The Butterfly Swap
by allen Vth
Summary: Throughout the multiverse, it's fate for Star and Marco to meet regardless of circumstance. In this AU however, a young Eclipsa befriends Marco, changing not only the story of their adventures, but the threats that befall Mewni. Cover Image from Butterfly Divergence at Tumblr
1. Troubled Beginnings

"Eclipsa" - Dialogue

 _Eclipsa - Thought_

 **[~*~]** \- Time change

{Line Break} - Location change

* * *

The setting sun on the horizon invites a cold breeze to accompany the dense smell of nature.

Three figures are making their way from a large clearing to a forest. Far behind them are the tall walls guarding the Butterfly Castle.

Two of them are wearing full metal armor with a shield in hand and a sword at waist.

The third person is on all fours, sniffing the floor with the occasional inhale.

This one is lithe in appearance, wearing dark brown boots, a long purple skirt reaching to her knees, a thick sky-blue vest, and long white gloves reaching to her elbows. Her purple hair is tied into two buns on either side of her head with a ponytail each that's as long as her body. A metal helmet sits on top with two white horns. Her green eyes are wide as they search with frantic movement.

She stops and inhales twice to be sure. She looks behind her. "Look lively. I think I found the Monsters' scent." Her face scrunches. "Hmm, or maybe Warnicorns past by here."

The other two follow pace as Mina resumes her search. One of them turns to the other. "Hey, do you think we will find Monsters here? Close to the castle?" He asks with a skeptic tone.

His companion shrugs.

"Whether we find something or not doesn't matter." Their heads snap forward as Mina continues with her investigation. "We're Knights. If danger is lurking in the shadows, then we conquer it and make sure there's nothing to fear."

She stops again, this time her head bends up. She inhales longer. "That smell shouldn't be here." Her voice is closer to a whisper.

Before the others could ask, she takes off around the trees.

The two are caught off guard, but quickly follows. Thankfully she doesn't go far.

They stop still as the scent of rotten flesh hits their noses. Their eyes fall on the two limp, mangled bodies in front of her. One takes a step back.

"Oh...but why…"

The other turns around and quickly takes off his helmet to puke his food.

Mina slowly rises. Her eyes narrow and gain a focus they usually lack.

"We need to tell the Queen."

 **[~*~]**

 _How long have I been here?_

Eclipsa keeps up a practiced smile. Her back is straight on the plush chair, hands folded over her skirt. Occasionally nodding to something she has zoned out a long time ago.

For today, she has decided to go for something simple: a sleeveless dark red dress that reaches down her angles. A violet shirt underneath. White gloves that reaches past her elbows. White socks and black flats. Her long green hair is loose, reaching her lower back.

The maids suggested to go with something more beautiful, like a necklace and earrings with an elaborate hairstyle. But Eclipsa couldn't be bothered.

She's currently in the main dining room that's typically reserved for large royal gatherings or for her and her mother. Today she has the 'pleasure' of being in the company of Shastacan, who, if she listens for a moment, is talking about the distributions of corns and how each family could blah, blah, blah.

Yes, she knows it's rude, but Shastacan is the embodiment of loving himself talk and to always be right.

She looks down on her food and realizes she's already eaten most of the corn and side salad, but not the side dishes like the corn stick, corn filled meat, and corn yogurt.

While food is still an option for distraction, her stomach will complain if she continues. She could continue to wander off into her thoughts, but after doing this for so long, she's sure it's almost time for her maid to arrive and tell them it's time to go to their quarters. The first time she's been caught lost in thought, Shastacan brought up to her mom about how _unbecoming it is for the future Queen to let her thoughts become astray_. When this first happened, her Mom almost had Shastacan's head rolling on the floor, and while that would solve some of her problems, she doesn't want to be responsible for starting an interdimensional war when one is already on the horizon.

She nods again to something Shastacan said after focusing on him. Despite all the talking, he has finished most of the main dish and some of the side dishes. Today he's wearing his usual attire: a closed sky-blue jacket with white cuffs and golden shoulder pads, blue pants, and white boots. The chain of a gold watch is seen on his breast pocket.

What makes him stand out among other nobles is his pudgy face: natural rosy cheeks with a mole on his left one, and white hair with the sides curled into buns. Rumors has it he's letting it grow long to have three on each side and one over his forehead.

"-My parents have given me more responsibilities as the head of the family, something that's been long overdue after-"

Eclipsa tenses as she tries to think of anything that's more interesting. Her eyes drift to a newspaper folded next to her plate. The picture in front shows a giant monster slumped against a wall with swords and spears deep through his body. A few dead Mewman guards with deep slash marks are lying near him.

 **Globgor, King of Monsters, has Fallen**

 _Quite the bold statement_ , she frowns with eyes downcast.

"What are you looking at, Eclipsa?"

She notices her expression faltered for too long. She fixes it with a shaky smile as she meets Shastacan's gaze.

"The newspaper today is quite interesting, don't you agree?" He raises an eyebrow, and Eclipsa needs to keep her jaw clenched to hold back a sigh. "I'm talking about Globgor. Never thought anybody could kill a Monster like him."

He rolls his eyes. "Oh, that. Quite the surprise, yes. But it's nothing we should concern ourselves with."

Her face scrunches. "Are you sure of that? I won't pretend he wasn't dangerous, but he kept the Monsters in check."

"And you're concerned about this?"

"I mean, aren't you?"

She's not sure why, but this conversation makes her feel dumb.

That sigh of his and his plain tone makes her feel as if he's speaking to a child. "Eclipsa, your mother has long since mastered wandless magic, and her field of magic is quite deathly. She has the Magical High Commission at her side, and the Monsters might be smart enough to hold up a weapon, but we have trained soldiers." He lets out a hearty chuckle. "And it's hard to forget that our side possess magic and they don't."

"I…guess you're right." She has to swallow the bitter taste it leaves in her throat.

"Of course I am. So cast your worries away and focus on tomorrow. The Passing of the Wand is a huge step in inheriting the throne of Mewni."

"Yes, it is," she interrupts him in the most respectful manner. Just to have a moment to hear her own thoughts. _Maybe I should've stayed quiet._

"Where is that blasted maid?" Shastacan pulls out his watch. "It's already 9:32. She should've been here two minutes ago."

She takes a short breath to prevent her voice from rising. "Maybe something important is holding her back."

He puts the watch back into his breast pocket. "As a maid to the Butterflies, she should be efficient in her job. If she isn't on time, then someone else should be hired. Someone who does appreciate the job they've been given."

Her hands clench into fists and her mouth opens for a retort.

The main doors to the room swing open. "Forgive me for my tardiness."

A maid walks in with a hurried pace. She's wearing a sky-blue dress with long sleeves up to her wrists. A white apron reaches to her knees with a white cap. At around 20 years of age, she has a youthful appearance. Freckles adorns her cheeks and across her nose. She has warm emerald eyes and a short chestnut hair.

"Lord Shastacan, Princess Eclipsa, I brought the waitresses to begin cleaning."

Soon, staff members enter and pick up the plates.

Eclipsa and Shastacan get up before that and leave. The maid who first got in follows behind Princess. The clattering sound of plates and utensils becomes background noise as the three enters the hallway.

Shastacan turns to Eclipsa, who in height reference, is one head lower than her. "Don't forget that tomorrow we have a meeting at 5 pm. Until then."

And with a practiced tone she replies, "until then."

They turn to opposite sides and walk towards their respective quarters.

The silence that follows is welcoming to the Princess, but not fully relaxing. She's still standing straight, hands folded in front of her and moving fluently with her steps as if a book was placed on her head.

The maid is fiddling with her apron. Her gaze is downwards, but it flickers between Eclipsa and the tiled floor.

"I-I'm sorry for being so late." She bends her head down so her hair blocks her vision. "I tended to your garden as usual, but I must've taken longer cleaning your room. When I realized it, I did my best to rush in and-"

"Mathilda, it's alright." The maid brings her head up, and sees the Princess looking back with a smile. "Without you, I wouldn't know where I leave half my stuff. So thanks for putting up with my messes."

This causes the maid to reply frantically, "as your personal maid, it's my job to clean up your messes." Her face grows red before covering her eyes. "I-I-I didn't mean it like that. I love my job, so I'll happily clean anything you need me to."

Eclipsa chuckles at that, and turns her attention forward. "If only you could get me out of my 'play dates'." She chokes on the word, "sooner."

Mathilda's hands move down to her sides. Her face no longer flushed but laced with shame. "I wish I could do that, but remember that the first time I tried, Lord Shastacan almost had me fired for taking his precious time away."

A heavy sigh escapes Eclipsa as she harshly grips her skirt, and her voice becomes sharper. "It's either too early or not on time. It's never enough for him! First Tom and now this!? Every guy my aunts tries to pair me up with end up testing my patience."

"Well, let's look on the bright side. Tomorrow your mom will give you her wand. You will be able to cast spells like you always wanted."

Eclipsa can appreciate the attempt to liven the mood, but yet…

 _The Passing of the Wand is a huge step in inheriting the throne of Mewni_

She shakes those thoughts away and focuses on the fact that she's close to her personal haven.

After a deep inhale and exhale, she reigns her nerves under control, and rubs her eyes to fight off the fatigue. "I know I should, but now all I want is for this day to end."

"I know this day wasn't how you expected, but tomorrow will be better. I'm sure of it."

"…See you in the morning."

Matilda can only respond with an equally glum tone. "Y-Yes, see you in the morning, Princess."

 **[~*~]**

Within minutes of separation, Eclipsa has taken the most direct route to a set of wooden gates.

After opening and closing the entrance to her rose garden, Eclipsa takes the deepest breath she can muster, inhaling the various aromas of freshly picked flowers and watered grass along with the night's cold breeze. It puts the largest smile she had all day.

She walks through the dirt path. Her eyes sweep over the place eagerly.

Eclipsa still remembers how she and her mother discussed over the placement of the water fountain. The bushes on the very side that reach the walls. The amazement she felt when seeing her mother perfectly cut the weed with her sword-wand. Or the many times they sat on the wooden bench and ate food in private.

Her smile falls as she approaches the Rose Tower. _How long was it since Mother and I worked together?_ If she recalls correctly, a few months ago before the Monsters have gotten bold enough to openly attack corn farms. Usually they steal, but it was small in comparison of what they are doing now.

This included raids to supply exchanges, attacking carriages moving between towns, attacking towns, and if rumors are to be believed, then today they have even been sighted near the castle.

She has tried to confirm this, but the only response she got back was _focus on your studies_ , or _your Mother will handle it_.

With those thoughts, she enters her rose tower. While the smallest in the castle, it accommodates for being the widest, making her room spacious.

Her steps click against the spiral staircase.

A month ago, the amount of royal lessons she took have increased to prepare her for her future responsibilities as Queen.

She's already twisting the handle to her room without realizing it, and only comes to when she is in front of her closet.

With mechanical movements, she disrobes, throwing it into the laundry basket before putting on her pink bathrobe and bunny slippers.

Following her routine, she walks to her bed and spares a glance to her work desk that's long enough for several books to be placed over. The only items on top is her feather quill on top of a white sheet of paper. It has been a while since she worked on prototypes for new spells.

Her fingers trace over the soft velvet of her bedsheets. Eclipsa humors the thought of looking at her garden through her window, but she doesn't have the spirit for it.

 ***Knock-Knock***

"Hey, Eclipsa, open up!"

She draws a sharp breath and runs to the door with a smile. Opening it with haste reveals her Mother. Otherwise known as Solaria the Monster Carver.

There couldn't be a sharper contrast between mother and daughter, from Solaria's darker skin, shaven hair, blue eyes and lightning bolt cheek marks against Eclipsa's paler tone, gray-purple eyes, long green hair and spade cheek marks. Now that it's night, she has a baggy red shirt that reaches to her mid-tights and long black shorts.

Solaria's smile can be confused to a smug grin. "So how's my little Princess doing?"

Eclipsa throws herself around her waist. Her mother lets out a boisterous laugh. "Let me guess. Shastacan."

The response is a muffled, "yes."

Solaria pats the back of her daughter's head. "Look at it like this: you're doing much better than I did when my family set me on…'dates'." The Queen eyerolls as some memories creep up. "Political marriages my ass."

She giggles and backs away from her mother. "I swear, I have an easier time speaking to birds."

"Hah! One thing I learned about speaking to prim-poshy noble, is that you nod at most of what they say, and threaten them to get to the important stuff."

"Or I could just curse them," Eclipsa adds with a giggle. Obviously she would never go that far, but it's fun to think about.

Solaria enthusiasm quickly fades. "Yeah, curses…" She walks past her daughter and towards her bed.

Eclipsa doesn't mind as she knows where her Mother stands on the subject. "I could always curse Monsters instead."

The Queen shots back a grin. "That's my girl!"

She sits on the bed and pats the spot next to her. Eclipsa eagerly sits next to her and looks up to her Mother in expectation.

Solaria runs a hand through her shaven hair before locking eyes with her daughter. "About Shastacan, I honestly would've kicked him out if his kingdom didn't provide extra military force. But don't worry about him, because you won't be seeing him for a long time."

Eclipsa smiles, knowing her mother has her back, but that pleasant feeling lessens as the Queen looks down with a face usually reserved for war room.

"Because you're going to another dimension."

"But-But why?! Did I do something wrong?" She pauses for a moment, her mind leading her to a worst option. "Don't tell me I'm going to Saint Olga's."

"Relax! You did nothing wrong. And no, not going to Saint Olga's." Eclipsa draws out a heavy sigh. "Monsters are becoming too active around Mewni, more than what I'm comfortable with."

"But you can beat them right? Why do I have to leave?"

Solaria ruffles her hair and her cheeky smile returns. "Yeah, I'm strong. I can take any monster and beat them to the ground." Her smile falls again. "That's more reason for you to leave. Because I know the Monsters will be coming for you to get to me."

There's a pause as Solaria considers her words. _No need to tell her about the bodies._

"It's bad enough they got spotted near the castle," she continues. "Even worse when we have no idea how they got there or even pulled a disappearing act. Sorry."

Eclipsa looks off to the side. "If only those knights haven't killed Globgor."

"Yeah, Globgor might've been a Monster, but at least he kept the others in check. That's the big reason why I allowed him to live." She slams a fist to her thigh. "Dammit! Those knights shouldn't have gone that far in the Forest of Certain Death. The best we could guess, is that they got too frisky in beating up Monsters, then Globgor appeared and you can guess the rest. What's done is done, and now I got to fix all this."

"It's just not fair."

She's fully aware how childish that sounded, but she's barely able to spend quality time with her Mother, and now she's going to leave for an uncertain amount of time.

Solaria's arm encircles her shoulder for a one-arm hug. "Think of it as a long extended vacation. You look like you need a break anyways."

"But…I wanted to spend more time with you."

She feels a small kiss on her head. "Me too. I promise to finish this war as quickly as possible, and once we're together again, we will do whatever you want, even gardening."

This draws a giggle from her, knowing how much her Mother hates it. Her eyes close as she tries to enjoy this moment as long as she can.

* * *

Torches light up the stone chamber. In the center are two wooden caskets: one is old and decayed while the other is pristine with meticulous wing designs on the top. And spread against the walls are Monster Statues that reach the high ceiling.

They vary from simple bipedal creatures with animal features to pixie entities; all wearing armor and cloaks while wielding a weapon of some type.

The most eye catching is a Monster donned in full armor and bulky in physique. A giant battle axe glimmers with Monster scripture on the curved blades. On its chest armor is a giant red blood crystal in the shape of a crescent moon.

In front of its feet is a long pedestal with several scrolls either opened or closed.

In front of one stands a humanoid figure in a business suit and black pants combo, a white buttoned shirt and red tie. He has gray skin and slick black hair combed back. A sharp pointed finger traces over the text as he reads.

 _No matter how many times I read this, there's always something new to learn._

 ***Ring-Ri-***

In a swift movement, he takes out a circular device. It's blue all around with a white pixie shape on top. The top half splits up to reveal a screen on the top and buttons on the bottom.

He takes a moment to read the caller id before moving it next to his ear. "Rasticore, how are the other Monsters behaving?"

 _[Savages! I love getting it on when I use my chainsaw, but this? A lot of these guys want blood. You should've seen them attack that town! Between getting them to stop and getting them into the tunnels, I thought the MHC would show up and kill us! Being a leader is the worst!]_

He rubs his temples, "So long as our numbers didn't dwindle, you did an excellent job."

 _[But seriously, when are you coming back? I know it's only been a week, but one more day and they might attack me!]_

Toffee sighs deeply. "I'm sure you can keep things under control for one more day. Call me if anything changes."

 _[*Sigh* Alright, I got this. I will keep things under control! I-]_

 ***Click***

If he didn't end the call, that could've gone for a minute of Rasticore psyching himself up.

He turns around to look at the decayed casket. _You were right. At the end, being docile has only led to our kind to die slowly._ He shakes his head, thinking how foolish his past self was. Toffee heads to the side of the chamber were an entrance is located. _It's time for balance to be restored to this dimension._

His mind is already conjuring ideas on how to convince the other Leaders to join him.

* * *

 **A/N: This is going to be a wild ride. First time I attempt anything this serious. Granted, I'm already writing another long story, but this is going to be more ambitious than that because I include so many more elements, so together, dear readers, we will find out how well this story turns out.**

 **On another note, I will be making another story for this fandom, and yes it will be another MarcoxEclipsa. Why this you may ask, because the concept of this new story, [Butterfly Divergent], is too unique to pass up. On another note, the title [The Butterfly Swap] came from fanfic writer**  
 **Exotos135**

 **Originally, I wasn't even planning on doing these two MarcoxEclipsa stories; instead, it was going to be a starco story but with demon Star. I had some ideas lined up, but I never had a general plan as a whole, which bugged me the most, so that story is in the backburner.**

 **With all that said, please leave a review with any questions you may have, or just to share your thoughts. Next, I will be posting that first chapter for [Butterfly Divergent].**


	2. Becoming Acquainted (Part 1)

"Eclipsa" - Dialogue

 _Eclipsa - Thought_

 **[~*~]** \- Time change

{Line Break} - Location change

* * *

A soft click breaks the silence of the room. Eclipsa steps away from the three ornate chests and takes a long look at her baren room. An empty bookcase that will probably collect dust in her absence, her bed baren except for the mattress, her deskwork is the cleanest it has ever been.

Now she stands in the center, coming to realize how her personal objects gave so much life to the room. Presently, it looks ready to be given to someone else as she's forced to move out.

Her lips curl downwards as she sits on the mattress. "All of this because of a couple of Monsters." Her face is still with a mock of passiveness...until her body starts shaking with her teeth bared and clenched. Her spade cheekmarks begin glowing purple.

Two heavy knocks on her door break her train of thought, and her cheekmarks dim down.

"Eclipsa, are you ready?" Despite knowing what this means, the Princess smiles at hearing her Mother's voice.

"Yes, Mom, I'm ready," her words come out slow.

The door opens as she walks in with her favorite armor. Brown boots with metallic platings and bronze colored greaves containing red heart emblems on the knees. A dark red skirt with scaled metal of similar color, and a red heart-shaped armor with a dual lightning bolt on the front. Bronze shoulder guards with golden butterfly insignia in the middle, and to complete armor, bronze vambraces. At her back is the long scabbard for her sword wand.

An uncomfortable silence follows as they stare at one another. At times their gazes break apart and neither say a word.

Solaria tries her best to smile, but as that seems to fail her, she passes the doorway to stand in front of her daughter. She grasps her wand, and unsheats with a flourish, leaving behind a trail of red embers and a wave of warm air.

Anybody else would be intimidated by the sight, but Eclipsa is only enthralled by it.

The blade itself is a pure radiant white as red flames dance around it.

 _Powerful_. Eclipsa had multiple chances to observe her Mother's wand in action. Though only against Mina as a single swing could easily deal with any of the royal guards.

Being this close, it's comforting to be under the aura it radiates. Even more so since she knows what will happen.

Her mother presents the blade-wand in one hand, and looks at her with an eager grin, "Remember, no fear."

Eclipsa nods, and gets up to accept her birthright in a more proper manner. With one hand, she grasps the rest of the handle, and her Mother let's go before stepping back.

A white light is emitted from the sword-wand, mesmerizing the Princess as she feels her inner magic attune to it. She watches the silhouette of the wand morph and complete in seconds.

It's...not what she expected. It almost looks like a dainty parasol. A black long staff that's connected to a crystal and ends with a black curve. The canopy itself is light pink with purple ruffles, and an intriguing crystal on the top, containing a black orb inside and black wings spreading from its bottom.

Eclipsa scrunches her face as she examines her wand.

"What? Don't like it?" Solaria looks at the transformed wand with a small grin.

"Well, I was expecting-you know," she looks at her Mother with a frown, "a weapon like yours."

A light scoff comes a response, "Wands change to resemble their owner." Seeing the disappointed look on her daughter, she quickly adds, "Hey! I bet you can launch a lot of powerful curses from this!"

That brings a smile to her, "Powerful enough to help you fight Monsters?"

"Someday," Solaria's smile fades as her tone becomes sullen. "Look, I know this isn't how you thought things were going to go." It hurts her to watch the immediate letdown on her daughter. "But after I deal with the Monsters, we can have a proper wand ceremony. Even bigger than the one my Mom gave me. You could even try a couple of courses to scare the nobles." She places a strong grip on her shoulder and flashes her a grin, "How does that sound?"

A short giggle escapes the Princess, "That sounds lovely." Eclipsa wasn't too saddened about the cancelation of the Wand Ceremony, she was actually glad. Being around that many nobles who will judge her every step, and the burden that will undoubtedly come with it. "...How long will I be gone?"

Now it's Solaria's turn to break eye contact, "As soon as I can." _Wars can't be rushed._ With the snap of her fingers, scissors with crystalized features materialize in a flash. "There's something we have to pick up before leaving."

She opens the scissors and stabs one edge into the air, and starts moving it down to tear a blue portal with glittery white. Once finished, she waves a hand at the chest with a yellow glow surrounding it. A flash surrounds them and in its place is a yellow duffle bag with a red heart on each side. Then lifts a finger up, and the bag levitates with a yellow aura. Stepping aside, the Queen looks at her daughter with a smile of encouragement.

Eclipsa steps closer. It might have been only last night since her Mother delivered the news, but it's felt longer than that. All the time she has been packing, she kept asking herself if it is really happening. Now she has to confront her new reality.

After taking a breath, she steps through the portal, and immediately understand why they are here for.

The room itself is simple. Red carpeted floor and marbled walls painted brown. With a chandelier on top lit up with a perpetual magical light, but not door to prevent anyone from entering by mistake or to steal the Butterfly's most sacred treasure.

Right at the center is a large pedestal holding a brown book over two foot in width and almost as tall as her. Two glittering crystals on the front with an equally large golden lock. Despite its old age, the book has no tear or wear anywhere. Despite its size, its less than an inch thick due to containing two generations worth of magic spells.

There are, however, hundreds of sticky notes protruding from the pages.

Solaria walks in, followed by a floating bag and the portal closes. "Let's get this over with," she stands in front of the book as holds a hand up.

In a small flash of magic, a pudding cup materializes.

The book rumbles, and opens with a heavy thump, "Is that banana flavor with chocolate covering? You have gone so far Solaria."

Out of its pages floats out a little blue man, dressed in lazy yellow robes, a long white beard with mustache, and pink crystal on his odd elongated head.

Eclipsa looks at him with wonder, as she now remembers the fun parts of being a Princess.

Her Mother, however, runs a hand down her face, "I can never understand why you like this things so much." Her frown deepens as he already taken the pudding, and inhaling it in a vacuum fashion.

He gives the empty cup a critical eye, and ensuring there's nothing left, he throws it behind where it joins the rest, "Congratulations, you upgraded from creating flavorless abominations to a 'meh'."

A low growl passes through gritted teeth, "I will never understand why I have to do this _every_ time."

He puts on a pensive look and asks with all seriousness, "Do you want to know?"

" _Yes_."

"I won't tell you." He scratches his beard absentmindedly.

" _Why not?_ " A gust suddenly pick up, the air cackles with electricity and a white glow starts emanating from her Mother's eyes and cheekmarks. Eclipsa has to steady herself and shields her eyes, but still smiles at the display of magic.

Glossaryck doesn't have much of a reaction, "Because I knew you get angry." The sheer blandness in his tone causes the wind to pick up more, and Eclipsa starts to worry that her Mother might over it.

*SIGH* The exhale causes the room to shake, and thankfully the magic saturating the air vanishes.

Eclipsa lowers her arms to find her Mother shaking with murderous eyes directed at the bookkeeper.

*SIGH* "I don't have time for this." She swipes the air with the scissors, and the portal created looks almost similar to the created before. It's still blue but now has a white swirl.

 _This is it. This one leads to another world._ It doesn't crash on her as heavily as before, but it's an unpleasant reminder.

Glossaryck floats over to Solaria, "I always knew you wanted to get rid of me, but to dump me in that world. That's cruel. I expected nothing less from you."

That draws her attention, "Mom, you never told me what world I will-" _live? hide?_ "-be housed in."

Her Mother looks to the side as she ponders, "Just some...backwater world. From what Heckapoo said, there's absolutely no magic and the ones who live there are not as strong as us." She sends her daughter a smirk, "That's more of a plus, but what's really important is that nobody there has earned their own dimensional scissors."

* _Yaaaa~wn*_ That likely intentional noise grabs their attention, and a side glare from Solaria. Glossaryck is now floating on his side, supporting his head with one hand, "In other words, isolated and boring. I'm worried that my new student might die out of boredom."

"Boring or not. Nobody will recognize her, less be capable of hurting her."

Eclipsa has to agree with that logic. With no magic in that world, she could find some secluded place and practice her craft without interruptions. _Still…_ She approaches. Her hands fiddling with her new wand. "Mom," now that she's got her attention, with a gentleness that's only reserved for her, Eclipsa hesitates briefly, "I...do we...do we have to go now? Can't we...do something before going?"

This is a painful moment for both. Eclipsa for watching her Mother's smile fall, and Solaria for having to disappoint her daughter, "If I could, I would, but I need to start preparing with the Magical High Commission. I'm sorry."

Guilt starts encroaching inside her, knowing how important this war will be for Mewni. As a Princess, she should be considering this.

"Look at what I got." she's brought into focus as her Mother is now in front of her. Solaria pulls the top of her armor, and with the other hand pulls out a piece of paper.

Her parasol nearly escapes from her grasp as she stares at the drawing with a rush of emotions. "Y-You...You kept it." Her heart is running too fast to even think of wiping the tears off.

Her Mother grins as she holds the drawing with great care. It's very simple as Eclipsa drew it when she was seven: she and her Mother holding hands in an open field with Solaria holding her sword-wand, and the words "I LOVE YOU MOM" hovering above them with a few hearts around it.

"Of course I did. This war will take time, but I won't rest until I've busted the skull of every Monster that threatens you." She pulls the armor again to slip the picture onto her chest. Then motions towards the portal, "Come on, the sooner we do this, the sooner I can bring you home."

The smile on Eclipsa will always be Solaria's favorite.

 **[~*~]**

Crossing through the portal with the duffle bag, Eclipsa wasn't sure what to expect on the other side, but with all her experience in diplomatic travels, and non-disclosed ventures with Pony Head, she will say that this place looks normal.

Cement street with a simple dark gray color. Green grass that doesn't look like it will eat anyone alive. Birds that chirp but not a language she recognizes. Houses, mostly of similar color, are lined up on one side with the occasional two floors. But on her side is the largest buildings in the vicinity.

 _Echo Creek Academy_ , at least that's what she's able to read. The language is one she recognizes from outside Mewni.

The most striking features of this academy would be the statue of a possum on the front.

"This looks like the place," Eclipsa turns to see her Mother in front of the portal while holding the giant book on her shoulder with ease. The dimensional tear closes and she keeps inspecting the place with a critical eye.

"Mom, is this it?"

"Apparently it is. Heckapoo said this is a school of sorts. Maybe you can make some new friends here."

A familiar irritation bubbles in her chest, chipping at some of her earlier cheer, "Mom, we been over this."

Her Mother has no qualm is displaying her frown, "I know that you think Pony Head is a good-"

"She is a great friend."

"-friend, but it wouldn't hurt you to make more."

"What about Mathilda?" She counters.

A roll from the eyes is followed, "Mathilda is fine, but even if I count Pony Head, that's two friends you got." She gestures to the school, "I mean more people your age." Eclipsa is ready to rebuttal, but Solaria beats her to it, "Just think about it."

It takes a few seconds, but she nods. The queen begins walking up the wide steps as her daughter follows, but there's a single doubt that lingers, "Mom, is it really okay to just walk in?"

"Sure it is," She says with a nonchalance tone.

"And if it isn't?" Not that she's worried about their safety, but more curious as to the answer.

They stop on the glass doors, and Solaria flashes her a grin, "If it comes to, this will be a learning experience for you."

 **[~*~]**

"You subtract five so it's on the opposite side and then…" The dull words of the Miss Skullnick turn to static for most of the students. For most appear death to the world. With either their mouths hanging open and drool coming out. Others with a thousand-mile stare and a couple sleeping either using books or arms as pillows.

The very few who are 'alive' are spending their time in opposite fashions.

The first is a red hooded boy diligently writing the teacher's examples. Unlike the others who have tuned out her words, he's focused on her. Until a crumpled ball of paper lands on his desk.

At first he's surprised, but that quickly morphs to frustration before he looks over his shoulder. With a low voice he demands, "What do you want Janna?"

The girl in question leans forward. A cheeky smirk present, "So, Marco, are you up for a little ghost hunting tonight?"

"No. Why would I want to go?" He turns back and resumes taking notes.

It took a few seconds until he heard close to his ear, "That's not what you said when we tried to raise Mackie Hand."

He stops again and a blush threatens to overtake him. Once again he looks behind, and now she's holding her head up with a palm underneath her chin.

"I only went to make sure you didn't get into trouble."

"Keep telling yourself that Diaz, but come on, I got this new book that-"

He rolls his eyes and interrupts her, "Like last time? A book that told you how to raise that dead clown."

Both her hands instantly grip the end of her table as her face threatens to split by a wide smile. She can hardly contain her excitement, "I know what I did wrong. I misread the date! If we wait a few months, we get to see a real ghost!"

At this, Marco's eyes widen as he considers it, but then narrows them, "What if nothing happens?" _Wouldn't be the first time._ As much as Janna wants him to appreciate the 'paranormal' wonders of Echo Creek, it is hard to do after so many failures.

Her usual smile returns as she shrugs, "Just like we do the other times. Do a campfire, cook some smurfs and share _ghost stories_." Janna's tone lowers in an attempt of a creepy atmosphere.

A resounding *THWACK* reverates throughout the classroom, causing some students to jolt in their seats or flinch away from the sound. In Marco's case, this coming directly from his desk, he slides his chair back till it hits Janna's desk and let's out a brief shriek.

The flat end of Ms. Skullnick's ruler is pressed hard on his desk that it left a mark, and the teacher is glaring at her student while shaking her head, "Marco, as our school's top student, I expected more from you." Then her gaze shifts to Janna, whose now sporting a lazy grin, "And you, it's one thing if you wish to stay as a troublemaker, but don't bring other students down with you."

She shrugs and leans back casually, "Don't look at me. Bad boy over here is just attracted to danger."

Marco's seat shakes from her kick, and it does the trick as he fires back, "Y-Yeah! I am! I love danger! It's my middle name!" He shortly realises that spouting the first thing that comes to his mind isn't the best idea.

Ms. Skullnick replies in the dullest tone, "Your middle name is Ubaldo."

Giggles and small laughter comes from his classmates, prompting him to hide his blush and face inside his hands.

"Quiet or I'm giving out a surprise quiz!" That is a straight bluff, but after doing this for several decades, she's learned this is the most effective.

After scanning around to ensure nobody will interrupt, and giving Janna a disciplinary glare-which is ineffective-she heads back towards the boards and starts writing with the chalk.

Static noise fills the room as the speaker turns on. Ms. Skullnick sighs, "Of course."

The static fades, and the voice of the Principal comes out, "I-I *ahem* want Ma-Marco Diaz to come to," there's an odd pause as he takes a breath, "my office immediately. We have a...new...exchange student for him." The device shuts down after it.

Marco looks up at the speaker in confusion, but Ms. Skullnick turns around with a disgruntled expression, "You heard him. Go."

He gets up and starts heading out, knowing that if he didn't, he will get yelled at to hurry.

As he's about to pass the threshold, Janna shouts one final time, "If they're any interesting, tell me about them later."

He smiles and nods at her before closing the door.

Walking to the Principal's office will take around five minutes, plenty of time to let his mind wander. More specifically to this new exchange student. _Weird, usually my parents are called if they're taking someone in. Maybe they couldn't get a hold of us?_ He cuts the last part as his family is rather famous for taking over dozens of exchange students. The Principal's voice was also odd too, but he passes it off as something to do with the exchange student.

As he turns around a corner with the Principal's office in sight, he stops to take in the sight.

Principal Skeeves is in front of his office, shaking like a leaf. He is occupied fiddling with his bowtie to the point it's unraveled.

There's a teenage girl with long green hair in a purple dress and holding a long parasol. She appears to be fiddling with it, looking at it up and down and the top...a crystal lights up and dims in a rhythm. Next to her is a duffle bag.

The last person is leaning against against a locker, most likely the Mother, but it's the armor she's wearing that he can't help stare at. She must sense his gaze as he's on the receiving end of her piercing eyes.

Marco takes an instinctive step back, but locks immediately as a part of his mind tells him that running away, would be the biggest mistake of his life.

She doesn't break eye contact, and with the silence in the hallways he hears her say, "Hey, Skeeves, is that the guy?"

The man almost jumps at her voice, and his head snaps in Marco's direction, "Yes! It's him!" He smiles as if salvation has arrived, "Marco, get over here!" He motions furiously with a hand.

But Marco is still, petrified by the gaze of the Warrior Queen. She barks, "Over here. Now." He starts power walking till he's right next to the group.

Mr. Skeeves starts fiddling with his door, "Good luck, Marco!"

Panic set into Marco's heart as he takes a step towards the man, "Wait-" _Don't leave me alone with her!_ Something about the lady in armor just sets the boy on edge.

But all words choke on his throat as a strong grip holds his shoulder, "Thanks again for your cooperation."

"No, no, the pleasure is all mine." He speaks more camly and opens the door.

"And the paperwork for my daughter?"

The Principal pauses midway entering. There's a visible struggle with him deciding to run into the safety of his office or answering.

From the side, Eclipsa covers her lips to hide a giggle. Though nothing could compare to the show her Mother did in the inside the office.

Finally making the right choice, Skeeves looks behind with a shaky smile, "Yes, there will-I will have proper paperwork for your daughter before next week."

"That's good." Her tone is calm, but Marco and Skeeves feel weighed down by an unseen force, "It would be an inconvenience to me if I have to return so soon. Are we in agreement."

He doesn't respond, just nods repeatedly as he closes the door behind him. His shadow is seen through the blinds, then moves down as a thud is heard.

There's a hot flash of pain on his shoulder as the grip tightens, "Let's go." With the silent command, he doesn't fight as Solaria guides him towards the opposite side of the hall.

With a flick of her hand and unseen by Marco, the book flies to her grab, and rests the backside of it on her shoulder as if it were a sword.

Following in line next to Marco is Eclipsa, already carrying her bag with one hand, and the other has the parasol which she continues to twirl. Her eyes examining every bit of detail, even now she can hardly believe the wand is now hers. A smile creeps over, _What spell should be my first?_

Solaria thoughts are filled with a long to do list of how to split her army properly. Send formal letters to ally kingdoms and possibly draft new squires. It doesn't end there, so much preparations needs to be done, ensuring her people's safety as her forces are mobilized is just or more important than anything else. She won't be getting much sleep tonight.

And right in the middle of the two magical beings, is the human boy named Marco, who gets the feeling that he's being abducted.

It doesn't help that after they cross the doors to the outside, the grip on his shoulder tightens, and he thinks he might be getting a bruise later. He's spun around and finds himself facing the warrior lady.

It might've been a trick of the sunlight, but her eyes flash briefly, and her voice above all else carries an authority that forces him to listen.

"Listen to me well because I won't repeat myself." She didn't not post it as a question, but he still gives a stiff nod. "You're going to be my daughter's guide during her stay here. This is non-negotiable. _Understood?"_ She uses a speck of magic, and to her satisfaction, sees the boy tremble.

"I-Y-Y-Y-"

She forms a practiced scowl that delivers immediate results.

Fear strikes quickly with sweat beginning to form.

"I think that's enough Mom. No need to scare my guide." Eclipsa playfully chastises as she gently takes Solaria's hand off Marco's shoulder. "And what happened to making friends. You're scaring him off."

The Queen eases up with a grin, "You know how a little fear gets the message across. Wouldn't want your guide running away."

Eclipsa knows her Mother means well, but she shakes her head. A smile present, "It would be fun to see it, but I don't want you to break Marco." Her Mother's gaze slowly shifts to the human whose wide-eyed and looking ready to bolt. "Mom!" Another playful chastise from Eclipsa. She plays further the dramatics with her fists on her hips.

She backs away, and her smirk at full display towards her daughter, "If you think you can handle it." And before Eclipsa could react, Solaria brings her for a tender hug, "Have fun sweetheart, and remember, I love you."

It takes a while, mostly from how surprised Eclipsa became, but she hugs back harder, and is glad the armor is warm, "Love you too."

Momentarily forgotten, Marco watches with a small smile. His own fears lessened, but not forgotten.

Solaria is the one who steps back first, and Eclipsa's arms lingers before she concedes that it's time.

And as a last act, Solaria rubs the tears off her daughter, and places a delicate kiss on her forehead. Without pause, she turns and walks down the stairs. If she stayed any longer, she might not let her go.

Eclipsa isn't doing much better, as her own hand reaches out, but ultimately clenches into a fist and forces it back to her side. She hugs the wand to her chest. The best birthday present her Mother gave her.

"I want to say I'm sorry," Eclipsa turns to Marco startled, and a heat of embarrassment rushes to her cheeks for. Fortunately for her, he isn't looking as he lifts his hoodie to open a red fanny pack. It only takes a second for him to fluently take out handkerchief and presents it to her. "I don't know what's going on, but if you ever need someone to talk to, I will listen."

It might have been the sincerity in his words, or even the simple way he's offering the handkerchief without any flourish like she expected from nobles, but this makes her feel better.

"Thanks," she answers in a low voice, not trusting herself she won't start sobbing. She takes her time to wipe the rest of tears off, even letting some fall felt as a rejuvenation experience.

During this time, Marco looks to the side of the street that Solaria went down. Just out of curiosity since he didn't see a car, but instead of seeing her walking, he catches sight of a blue flash hovering in the air. In the next second there's nothing. He rubs his eyes, questioning if he seen anything at all.

"Here," he turns back to the girl as she presents the handkerchief back to him, which he takes and puts it inside his bag. "And maybe I will take you up on your offer, but it will have to be later."

He nods and makes a move to pick up her duffle bag. "Let me help you with this."

As he's about to pick it up, Eclipsa stops him with a tone of confusion, "What are you doing?"

Marco hesitates, he looks as perplexed as her, "Helping you carry your things?"

"No I mean, don't you have school?"

He looks at the building and concedes with, "Well, yeah…"

She responds with patience and using a leveled tone a Princess should use, "I know my Mother had good intentions for me, but it's obvious you were pulled from your classes without your consent. Just give me directions to your house, or I could wait here in school until you get out."

Eclipsa admits to herself how relaxing it's to see him be so open. The way his face scrunches up as his eyes don't leave the building. She sighs at remembering some of the expressive faces Matilda made.

Marco, however, takes the noise as a sign of discontent. "It doesn't matter!" He adds hurriedly, but ends up with a hot blush. "I mean," he tries to laugh it up and avoids eye contact, "Only one hour of school is left. I can always catch up on Monday." He doesn't want to leave her alone, much less make her feel unwelcomed.

She could have argued more, but it's obvious how insistent he's on this. _I should repay him somehow_. A smile tugs at her lips, _This should be a good start._ Eclipsa half bows and lifts the edges of her skirt up, "Allow me to properly introduce myself. My name is Eclipsa Butterfly. I'm honored to be in your care." She's sure her tutors would be proud.

And with good nature he bows back with a hand over his heart and behind his back, "I'm Marco Diaz, and I promise to make your stay as fun as possible."

This leaves a comfortable silence between the two. Both unsure of what the rest of the day will bring, but each will make the best of it for separate reasons.

* * *

 **A/N: Hello any loyal fans that are still reading this, and the new ones that joined even after the long period of silence. About that new story I promised, [Butterfly Divergent], yeah...that's not happening. I ended up going through four different drafts of the first chapter because I was never content with it, and I was already taking too long. I could've done about two to three chapters on this story if I hadn't focused on creating another.  
**

 **With that said, I will focus on this story for a few chapters. I do want to return to my other story, [Wings of an Angel and a Demon].  
**

 **I will like to repeat this again, thanks for continuing reading this story. I will try to get the next chapter out much faster before University takes over my life.**


	3. Becoming Acquainted (Part 2)

"Eclipsa" - Dialogue

 _Eclipsa - Thought_

 **[~*~]** \- Time change

{Line Break} - Location change

* * *

If Marco had to describe the beginning of their walk home, it would be normal. He spoke almost like a salesmen, and she listened with avid attention. He talked about the games on the peer, the beach, the library, and the shopping mall, and she asked about the cloths they sold, the quality of paint supplies, the fruits and vegetables. She let out an "oh" when he mentioned the last two were created with chemicals.

He panicked and tried his best to cheer her up. He spoke in great detail about a natural waterfall in the forest. The animals they could sightsee, but it's only when he mentioned the words "supernatural wonders" did her mood perked up

"Do those kind of places exist?" Eclipsa asked with a glee in her tone. The magical book laid against her shoulder with her gaze on Marco. "Anything with _creepy_ dark magic?" she asked with a playfulness he's accustomed from Janna, but definitely with less mischievousness.

The Earth guide had to shift the weight of the duffle bag-on the shoulder that's not sore from Solaria grabbing it. He offered a shaky smile. "Yeah, an old witch side. Take it from me, that place feels and looks creepy."

But that didn't dissuade her as she leaned in. Can you take me there?" As he mulled over it with uncertainty, she stepped closer. "Please?"

What was a faint smell of roses, now it's as if a fresh bouquet has been presented to him. One breath was enough to put him at ease, and with it, he remembered something.

"There's something better." Her eyes widened but didn't protest. "They had enemies you know, the Wiccas." She rolled her eyes and giggled. He chuckled as well. "Hey, I didn't create the name. It just is."

"Sorry, please continue."

He paused for a moment until he thought of a better idea. "I could tell you, but it might be better if I showed you their Sanctuary."

"Is it really that good?" She raised an eyebrow in skepticism but still held a tone of interest.

Up ahead he already saw his house. "It is. Tomorrow we can go if you really want, after you unpacked-"

"Could we go today?" Confused by her hasty tone, his gaze fell back on her. She looked away briefly. "I could use a distraction."

Any protest died after remembering the farewell she and her Mother had. Nervousness creeped up again, but another breath of fresh rose petals soothes him. He wore a smile with more confidence. "If you give me some minutes to prepare, we can leave soon."

"Thanks." Her arm barely lifted before she moved it back to her side. She wanted to give him a one-arm hug, but thought that would be crossing a boundary too soon. Even now, though close, she kept a respectable distance. _It would be nice to make a new friend._

She couldn't keep this line of thought as Marco turned right with her following. Now they walked on a curved granite path. Eclipsa immediately noticed the freshly trimmed grass on their sides. Cactuses that must've taken special care to keep healthy, and grass sculptures with none a single leave out of place. Eclipsa smiled in appreciation.

The house itself appears simple. It's two story with a side garage. A far cry from the castle she lived in, but she didn't mind. Being away from her royal studies is what she wanted.

"So what do you think of my home?" They stopped in front of the door as Marco pulled his wallet out. _I hope she doesn't mind the place._ Marco never believed himself to be the most perceptive person, but he can tell that Eclipsa's dress is of better quality than anything he's seen at the Mall, and her Mother's armor looked better than anything he's seen in books or movies.

"It's cozy," she answered without pause and a newfound warmth in her tone. "Not many take care of their lawns on this level. Did your family do this on their own or did they hire someone?"

Marco made a silent sigh of relief as there have been some of the richer exchange students that had problem with his, on their own words, unimpressive house. "My dad actually," he answered after fishing out his key and smiling back. "Did you have one in your home?"

 _You have no idea,_ she wanted to say that and then continue with how she and her Mother constructed the garden from the ground up, but many more memories of the place popped up. All of them including her Mom.

Her expression dropped as her eyes shifted downwards. Marco felt a pang of guilt and scrambled to open the door.

After a click from the door, he shoved the key and wallet back into his pocket. "If you liked the outside, I hope you like the Diaz's humble abode!" He put on the widest smile before stepping aside.

She gave a half-hearted "thanks" as she steps through.

The inside has a level of personal touch that Eclipsa expected. Tile floor with checkered patterns of sky blue and tan colors, a wooden table in the center with a long couch next to it. A chimney attached to the wall and a potted cactus next to the door.

There was other little detailed such as pictures or portraits, and how all three walls are of different colors instead of being one. The room next over, from what she was able to see, is a section of its own from the sandy tiles and table with four chairs.

"Nice decor." She walked in, intentionally examined every little detail to occupy her mind.

"Thanks." Marco stepped ahead of her after offering a grateful smile. "Come on, I will take you to your room."

She followed behind him as she took in the next room. _It feels strange to have the kitchen too close,_ she allowed her thoughts wander off. Until they stepped on the stairs, where a plethora of pictures decorate it.

The first few were of a younger Marco next to a kid his age. All of them taken outside the house with the two happy. As she went up, she noticed a pattern.

Marco kept getting older, and the person next to them varied considerably in age and in appearance. Some weird being like a robot (like she seen in the Bounce Lounge), a green creature with an oval head and beady purple eyes (resembling some dignitaries she saw from other dimensions), and even what looks like a witch dress up (in her opinion exaggerated with the pointy hat).

At first she held her doubts because of the absence of magic in the air, but now she's confused and a tad worried.

"Who are these people?" They stopped in the middle of the staircase, and Marco looks back at her. Then followed her gaze.

"The other exchange students." If not the soft tone, then the endear look he gives them tells Eclipsa of their importance. "It was always fun while it lasted." He left it at that as he continued walking.

Eclipsa followed behind. "And they're all from...here?" She wanted to say 'from this world', but refrained herself.

"No. They're just like you actually." As he took the last step on the stairs, he missed the panic look on Eclipsa. "They come from really far away, but none of them could beat the armor your Mother wore."

"Really?" she asked slowly and putting up a practiced smile.

His gaze had shifted to look past her and towards some of the visible pictures. "Jeremy and I went through so many aluminum rolls for the main body, and three different sketches to get it right."

He leaned back against the wall with his eyes still having a forelong look. "Boy, that got the school talking when we showed it off."

"Then there was Monaca." He sighs in good nature. "She and Janna were quite a pair. Good thing I convinced her to use artificial hide for her costume instead of...whatever Janna brought."

This brought a curiosity out of her. _So they were not magical creatures, only pretending to be._ She relaxed.

Marco took a look at Eclipsa to see her patient smile, but he panicked. With a quick motion, he opened the door and avoided eye contact. "Sorry, I didn't want to bore you. Whenever you're done unpacking, you can uh, look for me."

He turned as soon as he finished, already feeling embarrassed for finishing lamely. Marco took one step forward-

"I don't mind." He stopped, and Eclipsa stepped closer to him after setting the book aside. "I wouldn't mind hearing one of those stories later." She used her free hand to turn him around, and found his blushing adorable. "But I'm going to need my bag first."

That blush expanded to most of his face. "Sorry!" He put her bag down before making a hasty retreat down the hallway. Her soft giggles haunts him as he entered his room.

"Is it bad that I enjoy teasing him?" she wondered out loud in the empty hallway.

"Nah. He will get over it." But of course, Glossaryck showed up after it was just to the two of them. He's floating in the air next to her, looking bored as he checked his surroundings. The Butterfly spellbook is no longer dormant, but hovering behind him. "We should settle in as he does his thing."

She agreed to this, and with the straps of the bag around her shoulders, she enters her new room.

Her first thought was of how simple the room looks: a wooden floor with, a green circular carpet in the center, a single bed on the far corner, the window is on the opposite end, a desk with chair on the right and a closet on the opposite end.

 _I wonder if I am allowed to paint the walls, or at the very least put some posters._ Now at the center of the room, she sets her bag down and moved her hand towards the zipper.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Glossaryck piped from the side.

She stopped, and shot him a confused look. "Of course I do." She continued to ponder over this as she pulled the zipper.

Nothing short of a hurricane exploded from the confines of the bag. Her shout of fright covered under the turbulent winds. Her hair and dress are dragged by the current as she uses her arms to shield her face.

The only upside to this is she isn't being hurled around like a ragdoll.

But as fast as the wind came it stopped. Only now does she get a strange deja vu from earlier this day.

She lowered her arms, but unlike before, she's marveled at the sight.

The floor has become solid cobblestone without a smich of imperfections. A large king-sized bed on the side, with the four poles on it corners extended upwards and holding purple veils acting as drapes. Next to it is a closet of dark wood with a full length mirror at its side. What followed is a bookshelf with all her books-both research and fairytale stories. Then a desk quite similar to the one at her tower, along a copy of the chair, and a feather in its ink bottle.

As she looked further around, she notes of how empty it is, but that might be because the room was twice as large now. The room was no longer boxed in, but circular like her old room.

 _So similar._ Her lips curved upwards as she takes in the details of the room. Then her eyes land on the curved wooden windows. She rushed towards it. Her hand was already reaching for it before she yanked it open and took a look at the walls outside.

Nothing was broken or changed to fit the extra dimensions inside the room. Just a typical room on the outside. "Mom, you're amazing!"

She closes the windows and heads to the center of the room. Eclipsa taps her chin as her gaze wandered to the empty spots. "I could always buy decorations." Then she noted how all her belongings are all on one side and close together. Her smile dipped down. "I should divide my belongings into two sections. One for studies and the other for rest."

"If you knew how that spell worked, then you could've started with that."

"Yeah, I…" she pauses as Glossaryck's words settled in. Her eyes narrowed as she turned towards her floating teacher. "You knew that would happen."

He's now sitted in the air with his back pressed against the spine of the book. "Of course I did. I'm more surprised you Mother never showed you this spell. Didn't she take you to one of those hunting trips?"

"Well, yeah." Her lips curved upwards. "But she liked to do it more old fashioned." She enjoyed seeing the proud look on her Mother when she set up her first tent.

Glossaryck didn't share the same sentiment. "That sounds great, but we should be focusing on more relevant subjects." Now he leaned forward, and for the first time, Eclipsa sees a toothy smile from the blue tutor. "Your training! Ready to learn the secrets of the universe and leave a new magical legacy in your ancestor's book?"

This is exactly what she wanted to do. All her studies on the theory, more so in the dark arts, and the prototypes she has created. Which is why she said, "maybe tomorrow."

His smile did the quickest 180. "What?"

"I just..." her eyes drifted over to the gray wall. "Don't feel like doing it today."

The tutor pondered over this. "Is this about that human boy?"

"Sort of." She thought of lying, but decided otherwise due to Glossaryck's history of teaching generations of teenage princesses. "I love being able to hold the wand now, but after everything that happened today, I…" She let out a slow breath. "Don't feel in the mood to start with my studies. Sorry."

"I understand."

She looks back at him with surprise and relief. "Really?"

He leaned back to his previous position. "You're not in the best state of mind. Teaching and angsty emotions never mix well." The book opened and he floated over it. "As the new holder of the wand, this book belongs to you. Use it and call for me whenever you wish. Good day." And with that, the magical book closes with him inside it.

She stared with mild fascination as the book floated down.

Now alone, Eclipsa reflects on what might happen in her trip. _Supposedly there's no magic in this world, but the word witches seems common knowledge. And this forest...is it as terrifying as Marco made it up to be?_ Eclipsa isn't foreign to places with a dreaded atmosphere. _Will it have the same presence as the Forest of Certain Death?_

With her curiosity set in, she approaches the door. _Hopefully Marco had enough time._

[~*~]

Usually diligence and patience go hand in hand with everything Marco does, but as of right now, those things are the farthest things.

His closet has been thrown open with dozens of colored fanny bags spilled on the floor. Some of them are open with their contents half-spilled.

Ever since Marco entered his room, he's been on constant overdrive to put everything together despite causing a small mess.

He's standing next to his bed with an assorted of items across it: a close up map of a forest with several written measurements and two largest labels such as **witch zone** in the center and **paradise** on the top, a small blocky device with a screen displaying the gps coordinates (he learned his lesson on that first trip with Janna), two bottle sprays for anti-mosquitos, an swiss army knife, a roll up gause and disinfectant wipes for injuries. A checkered red and white blanket. A backpack. With the last item being a wider fanny bag than the one he wore earlier.

Marco had been spending the last few minute preparing, making mental note to grab water bottles and preparing some sandwiches downstairs. So the next minute passed with him meticulously putting the items in the fanny bag, and the blanket in the backpack.

With the job done, other worries resurfaced. He sat on his bed and ran both hands down his face. "Really Marco? Talk about her home when she's still homesick. Great move." He looks down at his newly prepared bags. _Hopefully she likes it. As...creepy as that place is. It's not like me and Janna ever got hurt._

Marco will always feel nervous in going, _but if it brightens her first day here, then it's fine._ Then a terrifying thought popped up. _What if she and Janna get together?_ He realized it's less of _if_ , and more of _when._

He shakes his head. _A problem for another day._ As much as he would like to message Ms. Skullnick to see if there's any homework, he doesn't know if Eclipsa has eaten anything yet.

With a new mission in mind, he got up and headed towards his door, already thinking if a light or heavy meal would be best.

This train of thought didn't last long as he stepped out of his room.

"Oh, Marco, what a surprise." In his defense, he didn't jump or shriek but he did look spook. "Are you ready for our dangerous trek through the witch's land?" She has a smile to match her excitement.

 _Yup, she and Janna will be a dangerous match._ "It's not that dangerous, but…" He paused with his eyes narrowed in question. "Wait, did you finish unpacking very fast?" He didn't mean to sound accusatory, but that's how she took it.

She paused, her grip on her parasol tightened and mentally chastising herself for that oversight. "Oh, you know. " _Tutors would chastise me for starting so weak._ "I didn't have much to unpack…" _could've done better._

"What?" She nearly flinched from the amount of concern he's expressing. "Now that you mention it, you did come with one bag."

"It's not that bad," she tried to play it off with a laugh. "I have more than the enough to survive."

"You say that. " He looked to the side briefly before sending her a smile. "How about this, I can convince my parents to give us money so we can go to the mall tomorrow."

"There's no need for that, I don't want to inconvenience your parents." While touched, she doesn't want to abuse her host's hospitality.

"It's no problem. I'm sure my parents would love the idea. I can even show you where the best stores are!" Marco looks far more excited with the idea, and with it came more memories with the other exchange students.

"You don't have to put that much effort for me." Although she kept her smile, she feels bad that his kindness started due to a lie.

He starts softly. "It's okay, I want to. And who knows, maybe you will find something there you like."

Eclipsa did ponder on it, and thought of when she and Pony Head went on shopping sprees. "I...would very much like that."

"Great, but now I only got one more question for you."

She leaned in, curious, so he continued with, "would you like some burritos before we go?"

Eclipsa sported a confused look, but soon smiled at the thought of eating the local cuisine of this world.

[~*~]

 _I can't stop thinking of those burritos._ For the tenth time, she licked her lips to recapture the taste of meat and spices.

Two hours after finishing that _delicious_ snack, Marco and Eclipsa already traveled through the town of Echo Creek and entered the witch zone of the forest, and so far, she's not impressed.

She recognized why people were scared of this place. The leafless trees with thin branches, some of them ready to snap down. Not a single bird sound, some of the trees are half split with cracks or chungs lying on the ground. There was also a contrast as before entering this zone, it's masked by layers of normal forest trees.

 _But nothing here looks like it could kill me, unlike the Forest of Certain Death._ Regardless of the lack of danger, there's something of this place that keeps her on alert. It's such a faint feeling that she couldn't place into words. _Faint traces of magic?_ It's the only noteworthy thing of the forest, but as she couldn't identify what it was, Eclipsa chalked it up that perhaps the scenery is getting to her.

 _But it is getting to him._ Eclipsa shifted her attention to Marco. Whose only five feet ahead, with a green backpack and a map with multiple writings and numbers.

Whenever she took peeks at him, he would look at his map and then at trees. At times they would stop near a tree, Then look at an odd looking device before he would nod and continue in a more focused path. When she asked, he responded, in a nervous tone, _"we are following the cleaner path."_

She wanted to question him some more, but it's obvious it made him uncomfortable. _But he's really doing this for me._ She smiled before quickening her step to be next to him. "Thanks again for accompanying me. I don't know how, but I promise to make it up to you in the future."

"It's fine," he said, but as he looked back at her, she has that smile and gaze that says she's determined to do it. "I mean it! It's fine! I want to be here!" Feeling heat on his cheeks, he looks back down on his map. "Can I tell you something, and promise you don't laugh."

"I promise, Marco." To press her point, she grasped his shoulder with a gentle grip.

"Well, I, want to do stuff like this. I know it's dumb to do dangerous stuff, but I already know everything about Echo Creek, and I just want to experience new things." He waited, afraid that perhaps he spoke too much.

"I understand." He looked relieved by her response, and Eclipsa hurried forward to be in front of him. Then turned to face him as she walked backwards. Her hands folded behind her with the top of it casting a purple hue over her shoulder as sunlight hits it. "And what if I help you? Like show you a new world so to speak." _This is entirely on a whim, but it could work. And if it doesn't…_

At first he looked confused at her proposal, then surprised, and settled for a small smile. "I wouldn't mind something like that. One of my friends is really into the occult, but we don't have that much luck."

Her eyes took an excited glean as she leans in closer to him. "Do _you_ have an interest in the dark arts?"

 _Dark arts?_ Marco is definitely sure she and Janna will get along. "I mean, so long as it isn't summoning demons or evil spirits, it's fine." Even Janna, with all her love for this sort of things, has her own limits.

She giggled, and with a teasing tone she asked, "summoning a demon couldn't be worse than visiting a witch's lair."

"Well, there's no one here. It's just us...and the trees." The snapping of wood freezes him and sets a panic look on him.

Eclipsa stopped too, but giggled as her gaze shifted between the ground and him.

He looked below too, and became more embarrassed to see his foot between a split branch.

Before either could talk, a *chirp* captured their attention. Once again facing the path they were taking.

"We're here," Marco spoke. Then moved next to her and continued with a more confident smile. "If it didn't look so pretty, the trip wouldn't be worth it."

This rekindles hope inside Eclipsa, as she really wants to find something interesting in this trip she forced Marco to take.

If nothing else, she's fascinated by the slow transition from forest decay to patches of green and healthy trees. _Like if the forest was rejuvenated,_ she watched the cracked ground become healthier, strands of grass where scattered about before coming in a group and turning into a field of them. The trees followed the same pattern.

Birds continued to chirp, a gentle warm breeze blew, flowers coming more frequent, and, her eyes widened, vines were moving upwards on trees with flowers of different colors and kind sprouting neatly on them.

After minutes of walking, that feeling that kept her on edge vanished, and she noticed Marco walk more relaxed. And passing the last rows of trees, Eclipsa stares in wonderment at the scene.

A seabed of flowers _._ Her lips parted in a gasp as she looked on the rainbow garden. It is an open field amidst the decorated trees, almost twice as large as her personal garden. _I could take a few home._ Her mind already conjured images of gardening bushes of them in Marco's front yard.

Marco turned to Eclipsa, having a tentative smile at what her response will be. "Like it?"

"Love it!" She turned to him, smiling ear to ear. "I can't believe there's no one else here!"

To that, his eyes shifted to where they came from. "The way here is not the best tourist attraction."

"Shame. It wasn't that bad of a trip."

He chuckled nervously at that, and began walking into the rainbow field. "I know we already ate, but I think a light snack would do us good." Marco sets his backpack down, then opens it to pull out a checkered red and white blanket.

Eclipsa watches with interest as he lays the blanket. Then the water and juice bottles in the middle with wrapped sandwiches on either side.

He sits down one one side, and looking over his shoulder he invites her over with a smile. "If you want, you can pick flowers later, but I want to show you something cool." He ended it with childlike enthusiasm.

And it was contagious. She smiled impishly and she began to take slow and methodical steps. "Marco, if I didn't know any better, I say you just took me on a date."

He went wide eyed with the biggest blush she seen adorning his cheeks. "I-this is not what I-I'm sorry if I-"

"Relax, Marco. " She sat next to him with a soft smile. "Has anybody told you you're a great person?"

"Well," it takes him more seconds to be relaxed, but a blush still persists. "My parents, but I don't know if it really counts because that's what parents do."

"Trust me. It does," she said with a warm tone.

He nodded back, and pulled out a bag that makes a sound she's too familiar with. "So, do you like feeding birds?"

Her lips twitch. "Marco, you really are great. Don't ever doubt that." _It might be on a whim, but it would be nice if I became his friend. So I hope I don't have to use that Mind Eraser spell._

* * *

 **A/N: Here it is! Finally! Somehow people love this story, and keep clicking that fav and follow button even though I haven't updated for a while. Thanks everyone!** **Hopefully the chapter delivered.  
**

 **What I'm going to ask next isn't something common, but I will be asking for chapter ideas for this story. I got a general idea for what I want, and have some specific chapters lined up, but I haven't thought of everything, and I know that there are readers out there with great ideas, and I could use the help to construct a full-long story. All I need are ideas to create chapters. Recently I been messaging back and forth with a reader that made me think of new elements to use in the future. If anyone gives me chapter ideas and I do end up using them, then I will mention it in the [A/N] section and say who it was.**

 **On a last note, next chapter will be the last of [Becoming Acquainted] before going back to Mewni for a short while. Until then.**


	4. Becoming Acquainted (Final)

"Eclipsa" - Dialogue

 _Eclipsa - Thought_

 **[~*~]** \- Time change

{Line Break} - Location change

* * *

"You seem like a natural at this, Marco." Eclipsa looks impressed at the boy next to her.

He's holding up a hand with few droplets of seeds, and a single bird on his fingers eating the food. This is impressive for the dozens of pigeons in front of them, feeding on the seeds Marco tossed earlier.

She can't hold back her smile at the sound of birds chirping and wings flapping.

"Thanks," he's in the same as he turns to her. "I know this isn't really a _cool_ thing so I was worried about, you know." A faint blush adorns his cheeks at the word _cool_.

But she eases his worries with a shake of her head. "I've only known you for a few hours, but so far you left a good impression on me. Not many people get to do that." _Pony Head will be jealous._ The thought made her giddy with the thought of her two friends meeting.

He shakes his hand lightly, causing the bird to fly next it for him to toss the seeds with the others. The bird follows while he scratches his cheek to hide the growing blush. "You're making me sound very important. I bet you met a lot of important people back home." _With a dress like that, I bet she met other rich people._

And she has, but thinking on those boring nobles, and Shastacan, her mood dampened, but is brought up knowing she won't be seeing those people for a long time. "Trust me, Marco, you're a lot better than you give yourself credit for." She scoots closer in hopes he can see sincerity in her smile. "You went out of your comfort zone for me. Not many have done that." _Except for Mom._ "So thanks."

It would've been natural for him to blush at how close she is, but her gratefulness reaches him. So he relaxes. "Just being a good friend."

 _A good friend_ , she repeats in her head. _I have my reasons for lying, but that doesn't mean I like it._ Eclipsa observes Marco checks the seed bag, but he frowns as he finds it empty. _If I really want to be his friend, I have to cross that last barrier._

A cacophony of wings flapping overtake the natural peace.

Both teens watch with mild interest as some scatter immediately or stay in the air, chirping. In seconds, all are gone.

" _Fly...up...fly,"_ or so they thought. Their eyes shift to the ground to see one bird jumping and flapping its wings.

Eclipsa looks on curiously. _Is that, Avian language? But it's almost like a toddler is speaking._ The Princess gets up and hurries towards it.

"Eclipsa?" She ignores it for now.

The chirping stops as it hears her, and starts hopping away.

She puffs her cheeks and chirps, _"it's okay, I want to help."_ It stops and turns with its focus entirely on her. It even hops onto her arm which she offered, and then returns to Marco's side.

He stares in awe at what she accomplished. "How did you do that?"

She giggles, and is more mentally prepared to answer. "I have my ways." There's a sense of satisfaction at seeing his baffled, but accepting look, but after that brief moment, the mirth in her voice lessened. "We should figure out what to do with this little fellow."

The bird chirped curiously at her. She smiles, then places her parasol on the blanket and scratches its neck. It croones cutely.

"Maybe we can keep it," that's Marco's suggestion, and while good, it doesn't sit right with her, and it shows. "Or maybe we can give to an animal shelter. They will take good care of him there," he added with haste, thinking he messed up.

"It's not that. I just don't like the thought of him being left behind."

Back in Mewni, she used to talk to them to the point she grew fond of the Pigeons, and to see this one in such a state is tragic for her. _There has to be something I can do._ There's a pang of relief and guilt at seeing her wand. She stops petting, causing the bird to chirp in what she could translate as disappointment.

"I'm...sorry Eclipsa, but there's not much we can do."

His concern creates a pang of guilt in her. _I could, but what would you think?_

Eclipsa fancied the thought of showing him magic, so there's no secrets between them, and make true to her promise of showing him a new world, so to speak.

 _If only dark magic wouldn't have many dark connotations._ Her eyes widen. _Maybe…_

"Eclipsa?" A gentle grasp on her shoulder knocks her out of her thoughts, so she gazes into his chocolate eyes. "You weren't moving. Is everything alright?"

"Y-Yes, sorry, I-hehe," the Princess remembers her etiquette classes as she relaxes into her smile. "I was thinking for far too long."

He smiles in return and leans back with his hand gone. She finds herself missing the closeness. "Well, you can tell me. Maybe I can help."

 _You can_. "Can I tell you something about myself?"

There's a moment of surprise on him, and settles for a calm. "If you want. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"I want to. " She turns her body to face him properly, parasol back in her hand. "I want to trust you."

Whether by her tone or her words, Marco looks at her more attentively, but Eclipsa breaks eye contact as she takes a short breath before looking at the small pigeon.

It chirps, and with its low capability speech, all she can understand is its confusion. "Dark magic has always been a fascination to me. Forget the occult or the mystique, what I like most of it is how it defies nature."

Very carefully, she curls a finger to pet the bird's malformed wing. "White magic can cure injuries and heal ailments, very effectively too, but like everything, there's a limit to what it can achieve."

She stops with the cuddling and lightly tosses the hand up. The small pigeon takes the hint and flaps its wings. It hovers for a second before plummeting onto her palm. It shakes its body cutely before jumping to its feet and looking at her for the next command.

"If the body grew in a natural manner, then no white magic can change it to be something else. As for ailments, unless you know the specific type of affliction, then the caster will spend a large amount of magic curing it."

 _This is…a lot._ Marco wasn't sure what to expect, but definitely not a magical lesson. _This is nothing like what Janna described it._ Her other friend told him the basic gyst a long time ago: white magic heals and dark magic can hurt and do curses.

"But dark magic is far more flexible, if only people were more open minded." She moves the bird higher so its at eye-level, then shifts the wand so the orb is closer to it. It glows purple.

Marco looks surprised. As in his perspective, that's a well made electronic parasol, until Eclipsa speaks.

" **Replica."** Wisps of purple ember are projected from the sphere and wrap around its healthy wing. The pigeon tilts its head at it and pecks it curiously. The earthling, on his part, is jaw-dropped.

The flames wash off it and curve around towards the other limb. They wrap around it before expanding outwards.

Those beady eyes of the bird look at the wisps.

She puffs her cheeks and chirps, _"Fly."_

It tries by flapping its wings, and as it does, the wisps disperse to reveal a more developed limb, glittering purple under the sunlight.

 _Perfect,_ Eclipsa is simply glad her first spell worked. _It's so much easy to work on small limbs._

 _What?_ Marco is having a near opposite reaction. His mind trying to come to terms on what happened. It doesn't help that the bird is starting to drift up, moving around uncertainty and visible unaccustomed.

Until it seems to right itself and hover steadily. The following chirping are unmistakingly happy. It flies higher before going off to the side.

Eclipsa watched on, satisfied, but gazing back at the Earth boy, her head dipped slightly. "Marco?"

His jaw is no longer open at the least, but his wide eyes are staring at her. One hand moves towards the other, slipping underneath the sleeve of his hoodie he twists the skin. "Ow!" He rubs the burn away before refocusing back on her. "Are...Are you a witch?"

She couldn't hold back a snicker. "They wish they could be me." Reality sinks back in as she steadies her breathing like she was thought. "No, I'm not a witch. I'm actually a Princess from my home dimension called Mewni."

Tense silence follows. Eclipsa carries a mask of calmness while Marco is looking at the blanket with that wide-eyed stare.

"I know this is hard to believe-"

"Hard to believe!" She nearly flinched at his outburst. "I saw you cast magic and cure that bird." He motioned in the direction where the pigeon went. "I believe you. I...I just need time."

For the sake of his sanity, he bends both legs to hide his face on them, and hugs them closer. _I'm housing a magical Princess. What if something happens? What if my house explodes._ His mind goes into a spiral of anything that could go wrong.

Eclipsa is now evaluating her options. _I hope I don't have to use_ _ **Mind Eraser**_ _. Maybe I should wait, but what if he decides I'm dangerous._ She acknowledges it would be a reasonable assumption. _How can I convince him to give me a chance?_ Going through today's events, she remembers a specific conversation they had during their travel here. _I have to try._

She got herself in this situation, and she will make sure the it's the best outcome possible.

With mock-confident movement, she gets up and moves in front of the Earth boy. "Marco." He tenses up, and slowly lifts his head. Eclipsa felt bad at how scared he looks. "I recall you telling me you wished to experience new things. I can introduce you to a magical world, but you need to trust me."

She extends her hand for him to take, and his eyes shift nervously. There's a moment that he looks at her hand, with his expression gaining more confidence, but he seems to pull back in himself and looks at her in distrust. "But why me? I'm…" Marco looks away dejectedly. "I'm me."

Her first thought was to say something encouragely, which she will do, but there's something she has to get off her chest. "You could say I'm being selfish." That wide-eyed look says everything. "I really want to have a friend. Someone who I can have fun with and not hide my real identity. Marco, that person is you, and don't tell me you aren't worthy or anything similar, because you are. Give this a chance, and I promise you won't regret it."

There's a spike of fear as he doesn't move and continues to stare. She seems him swallow, and lift a shaky hand towards hers. Hope and fear clash inside her, but ultimately it's up to Marco now.

Seconds dragged until Eclipsa feels a warmness surrounding her hand. _Yes!_ She wants to jump, cheer and maybe a little that her tutors would disprove of, but she reigns herself in so she doesn't come off as weird to Marco.

In containing her smile, however, she doesn't notice the giddy smile she has, or the purple glow her spade marks create.

And despite the worry still lingering in Marco, he's mesmerized by that light. He's pulled to his feet, and that light fades off.

His sanity may have been questioned, but he admits to himself to be excited, albeit scared, with this new friendship. "What happens now?"

"Now, Marco." She raises their still intertwined hands, to which Marco blushes. "I introduce you to my version of fun. **Velvet Winds!** " With her wand raised, the orb bursts with a magical glow before purple-white powdered winds manifests out of it.

They swirl around their feet and begin hovering off the ground.

After the initial shock, an excited laugh escapes Marco. "Where do we go?"

"Anywhere!"

Side by side, Eclipsa starts traveling to a random parts of the green forest.

* * *

 _Now this is interesting._

Far higher than both children can see, Glossaryck watches both with a raised eyebrow. Legs folded, one hand holding a pudding cup and the other a spoon.

He takes a large chunk out and eats it. _Chocolate is mixed well, the pudding has nice texture, and most importantly, familiar._ Looking back at the teens, it doesn't take a genius to see they will continue for hours.

 _It's not the usual Sun and Star pair, but a change of cast can do good._

The pinkish gem on his forehead glows, and in a flash he's gone.

 **[~*~]**

 _I think I'm going to love this place._ After an hour of mindlessly flying in the air and firing harmless spells to show off, they're nearing Marco's home. A quick **Velvet Winds** made an hour walk through the forest into five minutes.

"How long are you going to stay?"

"Huh?" She's pulled out of her thoughts, not carrying low large her smile is as she turns to him. The mood must be contagious as even he can't hold it back. "Sorry. What did you say?"

"It's fine. I asked for how long are you going to stay here?"

Her eyes widen briefly. "Oh," but she doesn't pause. "Probably for a year. I'm not really sure, but I hope long, Princess studies are more tiresome than what they should be."

"That's great! That means we will have a lot of time to have fun." That's when his smile switches to a frown with his gaze shifting to the side. "I just hope things don't get too boring for you, because you know, no magic."

Before he could sink any further in his worries, a hand is pressed on his arm. "Marco," the endearment in her tone caught him off guard that he stops. "I had a lot of fun with you." When he looks back at her, he blushes at the caring expression of the Princess. "You had no idea the terrible day I had, and you managed to turn it around into something fun. Thanks."

If his blush wasn't noticeable before, it's now. "Well, I just, I try my best. Heh."

Eclipsa chuckles a bit. _Teasing him will never get old._ She removes her hand and resumes walking, but stops at noticing something. "Marco, is that your parent's?"

He hurries in step next to her while his blush fades. "That is their van." The red vehicle is neatly parked in the front, but Marco takes a mental account of the time of day. "It's too early for them."

They started walking on the granite path. Marco scared to how he's going to explain the new _magical_ exchange student, and Eclipsa excited to see the people who raised him.

So when they open the door-

"Surprise!" Confetti and party poppers set-off with both teens freezing on the spot.

Underneath a banner stringed to the ceiling that says 'WELCOME' are a pair. The man has broad shoulders and is rather buff, not to the same extent as Mewni knights Eclipsa noted. Almost the same short brown hair as Marco and wearing a yellow buttoned shirt with orange stripes.

The woman is much shorter, slightly taller than Eclipsa. She also has a striking red, waist length hair and wears a peach colored sweater and green skirt.

Both adults have wide smiles and place the party poppers down on the couch.

Marco steps closer with agitation in his tone. "Mom, Dad, why are you guys here?"

"What kind of question is that?" The Mother chides playfully as she approaches the Princess. "Hello, my name is Angie, and we're so happy to have you."

The Princess extends a hand for a greeting. "A pleasure, my name is Eclipsa Butterfly- _y!_ "

Instead of a handshake its a strong hug she receives. "We're all so excited to have you. Now Marco has another friend."

"Mom!" A hot blush rises on Marco's cheek. It doesn't help as his father stepped next to him and wraps an arm around his shoulder.

"Oh, Mijo, you know your Mother is playing around." He leans down and adds with some playfulness in his voice. "You been showing her around and having fun? Hopefully not too much."

"Dad!" Marco pulls his hood up and tries to cover his face with it.

Angie steps away from Eclipsa, who now sports a similar smile. "Your son has been quite a gentleman. Showing me beautiful sights and promising me to take me to the mall."

His mother cheers at his son and steps next to him. She wraps her arms around him in a motherly embrace. "I'm so proud of you! Me and your father can help you pick some stores. It will be great!"

The chatter is practically music to Eclipsa's ears. _Everyone here is so kind._ She sight of her new friend, whose aware of her identity, being flustered by his parents like this is endearing on its own way. _I should save him._

"It's been fun, but..." she snatches Marco's hand and starts pulling him towards the stairs. "He told me he would help me with something. In my room." She felt giddy when Marco's face turned more scarlet, and glad that his parents giggled and didn't take it too seriously.

It ended up being a short trip with their hurried steps, and once inside, the bigger and medieval aesthetics of the room makes him pause to look around.

"Like it?" Of course, she already knew the answer, but it was satisfying to see him nod. She walks to the center of the room, taking in the sight however, makes her frown.

Marco perfectly sums up her thoughts with, "isn't it a bit empty?"

"It is." She turns and flashes him a smile. "That's why tomorrow is going to be an important day. I want to give this place a personal touch."

"I'm sure we'll find something! ...Hopefully." Worry seeps in as a normal mall may not be enough for a magical princess.

"I'm sure we will, so I wouldn't worry too much." She steps closer, and has a smile that makes Marco nervous. "You should go back down. Wouldn't want your parents to think something is going on." She leans closer, her rosey scent hitting him again with her voice close to his ear. "Between a boy and a girl alone in a room."

His cheeks gain a mad blush. "Uuuuuuhhh." He steps back. "I-I think my parents are preparing something for us." His hand fumbles with the door handle until he can manage to open it. "We should g-go down!"

"I will follow you shortly." Before she ended, Marco has crossed and closed the door.

She takes a moment to herself, enjoying the good fortune after yesterday's tragic news, but before heading down, there's a thing she has to do.

The reflection on her full-body mirror shows her dress still in good condition despite the short adventure. "Mirror, mirror, check inbox." Green letters appear on the mirror that reads [There are currently two unread messages].

A bubble of excitement rose in her. "Show message." _Did Mom leave them?_

[1 message from Lilacia (PH). 1 message from Tom]

That warm bubbling feeling died down with the last name. She grits her teeth. _Why does he keep bothering me!?_ "Delete Tom."

[Are you sure? Yes/No]

"Yes."

[...]

[1 message from Lilacia (PH)]

She sighs heavily. _If only I could block him._ _Stupid Lucitors and their money._ Eclipsa shoves her frustrations away mentally. "Open Lilacia."

The reflection on the mirror switches to a video recording. The image of a cyan pony head comes into view. A star tattoo mark near the base of the neck, a horn and a wild pink mane that seems to catch an invisible wind. "Hey, _guuurl_." The princess giggled at her friend's 'uncouth' behavior. "How's it going?" Pony Head is wearing a cocky smirk with her neck angled in some type of pose, but that fades to reveal for a frown. "Augh! It sucks that I couldn't make you a party. So, like, why did your Mother even cancel the ceremony. We were supposed to get wild with those sick spells of yours." Her neck curves with her head shifting up in her own way to shrug. "Anyways, I will be at the Bounce Lounge. Call me when you decide to have fun. End message."

Eclipsa didn't think long what she did next. "Reply."

[...]

[00:00:00]

[00:00:01]

"Hi, Pony Head." _Don't reveal too much._ "I'm sorry, but I won't be available for some...a long time." She fiddles with the handle of her wand. "And hey, look," Eclipsa shows her wand-parasol. "It's not a sword, but looks elegant." Her smile strains and replaces the parasol on her shoulder, "This...isn't a goodbye, just a see you later. I know we got messages and such, but I know you enough that you will get bored of that. So...see you later. End message."

The countup stops as she stares at her own reflection.

She takes a breath and exhales. "Call, Mother." She used to say Mom, but that at times got misinterpreted for Tom for an odd reason.

It beeps once, then again, and a third until it spells [Redirecting to message. Yes/No]

"Yes." She felt a pang of disappointment, but understands and smiles. "Hey, Mom. Earth, well, Marco's home is pretty amazing so far. You remember Marco, the boy you terrorized. Heh, good times." She gazes away briefly as if talking to another person. "Mom, Marco is a good friend, so please be gentle with him next time." Her smile is filled with reassurance, "He turned this into a fun day. So can you do it for me?" There's a longer pause as she bites her lower lip, "Mom, I know that I'm here because I could've been a distraction during the war, but I will prove myself worthy of the wand and maybe someday stand beside you in battle. ...End message."

She takes a shaky breath and exhales the same manner. _Tomorrow, no excuses. First training, then the mall._

But today, she will go downstairs and enjoy an enjoyable breakfast with her new hosts and friend.

* * *

 **Beta: Tapp**

 **A/N: It's been a long fight, but finally I done it. I completed the chapter. I had it completed earlier, but my beta gave me some suggestions, and I took them to heart. The chapter is much better than before, because the original version didn't have Eclipsa do a short talk of white and dark spells, or helping the little pigeon.**

 **Next chapter we will go back to Mewni, and I will have fun introducing two special OCs of mine.**

 **Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Any suggestions, favorite parts?**


	5. Preparations

"Eclipsa" - Dialogue

 _Eclipsa - Thought_

 **[~*~]** \- Time change

{Line Break} - Location change

 _{...}_ \- Flashback

* * *

[Mom, I know that I'm here because I could've been a distraction during the war, but I will prove myself worthy of the wand and maybe someday stand beside you in battle. ...End message.]

[Replay message?"]

Solaria has replayed it enough to memorize it word for word. The Queen is currently in the main meeting room: a circular room with red pristine carpet and a line of purple curtains on the windows.

She's sitting around a mahogany table with a map while holding a compact mirror with green words in display.

At the center of the map is the design of a castle, surrounded by a grassy field, a small common forest near its northwest, and dirt roads on all four cardinals. Towns located near the castle are located both east and south.

Located far south on the map is a part of the ocean with a castle near the shore. Mountains are mostly on the far north surrounded with clouds. A castle is in the center of it.

The last notable and the most dangerous part is on the west, taking about ⅓ of the space. The Forest of Certain Death. Several miles apart it may be, but the Queen glares harshly at the image.

Her sharp ears catch footsteps approaching, and with a yellow flash, the compact mirror vanishes.

The double oak doors on the side opens.

"Reporting for duty, my Queen," Mina jumps in and lands on both hands, deftly pushing herself in a front flip and does it again when landing on her feet. Spinning and twisting in the air, she lands perfectly on her seat with her back straight on the wooden chair.

The knight turns her head to the side and saludes with a metal bong against the helmet. "I already handpicked the knights for our special strike force, and mobilized the rest of the knights and squires to the nearest towns at your orders."

The Queen grins at this. "Excellent news. Now we wait for Heckapoo to arrive with the others."

Mina nods with a pleased smile and relaxes on her seat.

Solaria's gaze goes back to the map, unfocused with thoughts racing on all the Monsters she fought and spells best suited against them.

"My Queen." Solaria turns to her knight, and is surprised to see her look uncertain. "Permission to speak freely."

"Permission granted." _Whatever it is, it's better if I deal with it now._

"Are you sure sending the Princess away was… the right choice?" She cringed at the end, and leaned back as if expecting a physical reprimand.

At first the Queen raises an eyebrow. _Is that it?_ "As much as it displeases me, ensuring my daughter's safety is my top priority. Even if that means she can't be with me."

"But they're just Monsters!" Heavy breathing comes from the knight, and after several seconds of unflinching staring, Mina realizes she not only shouted at her Queen, but stood up on her seat and is looking down at Solaria. She flops down on the wooden chair and hangs her head down. "I'm sorry, my Queen. Forget what I said."

Mina was beginning to sweat, and hands clenched into fists expecting a verbal reprimand.

"You're wrong." A gasp is drawn from the knight before she pulls her head up. The Queen has her elbows on the table with hands folded to support her chin. "For the most part Monsters are predictable. Half-botched guerilla tactics, feeble attempts at assaults." She closes her eyes, and Mina notices her Queen's hands shaking from the pressure. "We never discovered if it was one Monster, or a group that kept breaking our people's jaws. And then," her cheekmarks flash white, "what that _bastard_ did to my Mother. For all we know, someone similar to him is leading this new group."

They're both painfully aware of the assault to carriages in the past weeks, and the recent incident too.

But Mina is not of a similar mindset. "No…" Her words slow with denial evident in them. "Someone is leading them? But we killed Seth! This backwater Monsters shouldn't have anyone else!"

The Queen looks at her knight impassively. "But there is. We have to accept that." She returns back to watching the map and mulling into her own thoughts, and Mina now has her back pressed against the chair with her arms crossed and a frown hardened.

A tear fills the air, but neither spare a glance as a flaming red portal opens on the side.

"I'm telling you, he was evil!"

The first to step out is a neon-blue man wearing only purple booths, a spandex and a purple cape. His hands are snakes with a green shade and their eyes half-lidded with boredom. The man for a crystal head moves its sole beady eye back to the portal.

"My gut said he is evil, so I crystalized him." An unamused goat head with the longest goatee passes through. "End of story." The unamused look turns accusatory, and the crystal being looks away, uncomfortable. "O-Okay, Lekmet, I will release the Pizza Man after this."

"Baaaah!" The crystal man steps away for Lekmet to walk in. His brown robes clean as always but as he moves, he does so with a slow gait.

The crystal man steps next to him and picks Lekmet up in a bridal fashion, before moving the goat man into the empty chair next to Mina.

Lekmet looks up at him and smiles. "Baah."

"Oh it's nothing." He rubs the back of his head embarrassed. Until the snake he's using complains in a squeaky voice.

"Rhombulus, when was the last time you cleaned yourself. Yuk!"

His sole eye-beat narrows and moves the snake hand in front. "Hey! _I_ have a very important job that required _me_ to work for a _loooong_ time. Got it."

The other snake moves up to join with its raspy voice. "We know. We are always you, but all the more reason to take care of yourself, and us." Its gaze shifts down dejectedly. "It's been days since you rested."

The sentiment reaches him, as he too matches its tone. "Oh, alright, I promise to take tomorrow off."

A chair buckles backwards and rackets on the ground from Mina' jump. She lands on all fours on the table to glare at Rhombulus. Her eyes inches away from his. "Rest!? Who has time to rest!"

"MINA!" All three inhabitants shuddered as the energy physically weighs down on them. They look at their Queen who hasn't even turned in their direction. "Sit. I rather explain myself only once, so let's wait for the others."

After the calm declaration, a tense silence fills the room. All scared to aggravate her further.

Until the sounds of grunts filling the room. The three turn to the fiery portal to first see a series of swords stacked upon each other in an odd antler form, attached to a huge skull emanating a nebula aura. "Help." There's a hint of embarrassment in its tone as it tries to push through, but before anyone could do so, he's suddenly rocketed forward with enough force to almost hit the table.

The enormous skull sighs. Then it turns to face the new individual in front of the portal, and asks with an exasperated tone, "explain to me again why did I not use my orb of communication?"

The individual spins a pair of scissors; its blades are onyx with a shiny red handle and a yellow gem in the center. With a flourish move she places them in the pocket of her dress, and answers with a small smile. "Like I told you, too important of a meeting." With snow white fingers, she snaps them, and the fiery portal behind her closes.

As she does, Solaria breaks her gaze from the map to focus on the other two. "Omnitraxus," the big skull does his best to bow. "Hekapoo." The other woman gives a casual wave. "Take your places so we can start." Despite the calmness in its tone, everybody not in a seat move briskly for one.

This leaves the order on the table to be Solaria, Mina, Lekmet, Rhombulus, Omnitraxus and Hekapoo on the Queen's left.

The Queen leans back onto the chair and regards everyone with her gaze. "I know this is earlier than our usual meeting, so let me get straight to the point. The Third Monster War is upon us."

With the exception of Mina and Hekapoo, both donning a serious look, the rest letting out a series of, "What!" "Impossible!" "Baaah!"

Before it could convert into a cacophony, she says, " **enough**." A quick shudder passes through everyone's bodies as they stare at the Queen in silence. "Far too much happened yesterday. Globgor died. Mina and I already mobilized the army, but there's still much left to be done."

Rhombulus scrambles with words as he raises a snake hand to grab everyone's attention. "N-Not to be rude but, uh." He leans back as he's under the Queen's stare. While there's no animosity behind it, it's still uncomfortable. "Aren't we moving too quick?" His tone turns meek at the end.

The one to answer is Omnitraxus. "Globgor, the Prince of Darkness. We all know the pull that _thing_ had with the others."

A long and unsteady, "uuuhh," comes from the crystal man. "Of course I do! Who doesn't. Haha...ha."

The rest of the MHC look at him unamused, causing him to slump down with his crystal turning pink.

Then a gentle pat on his shoulder has him look to his left. He is greeted by a reassuring look from Lekmet.

Without having a smile or face, there's a twinkle in his beady eye that showed his appreciation.

But a "tsk" breaks the moment.

Hekapoo is now wearing a frown, and her eye that's not covered by her hair is glaring. But it surprises most at who it's directed. "We should've gone to war with the Septerians. It was more manageable before than now."

No shouts or heated glares come from the Queen, only that hardened resolve that was there before.

Instead, it comes from Mina. Slamming both hands onto the desk and rising up, she says, "watch that tongue, missy! That's your Queen you're speaking too!"

"And I'm a member of the Magical High Commission that also acts as an advisor. And _I_ advised long ago that we should've gone to war!" The fire between her horns grow in intensity. "Even after Skywynne's body was returned to us!"

The rest of the MHC members flinch at that, and instinctively cower as they look at their Queen.

With Mina and Hekapoo being the closest, the hair on necks rise from the electricity in the air. "And what do you think would've happened had we did?" Solaria begins stretching a finger with every point she makes. "Fight with a half trained army? Declare war without a plan? And I wasn't as experienced as I am now!"

The flame over Hekapoo's head flares as she slams her palms on the table. "We could've helped! That's what we're here for!"

"And I wouldn't have listened," the Queen counters immediately. Her tone cold and sharp. "Had Globgor not returned my Mother's body and gave me that Septarian, I would've raided everything in my path without a care." Hekapoo now realizes something about this pisses her off, and that's how Solaria seems to be talking down on her as if she's a student. "My people didn't need a war monger. It was more important to repair the damage Seth did."

A nod comes from Lekmet, and Rhombulus is giggling as he points at Hekapoo with a snake arm. "haha! You got told!"

Gnashing her teeth together, Hekapoo glares at him, but before she could make a retort, Lekmet holds a hand towards her in a clear sign to stop. "Baaah."

After a frustrated eye roll, she says through her teeth. "Nobody understands you."

"Hey!" Rhombulus waves both hands with them hissing at her. "If you cared, you would've learned like me."

Anybody could see a long argument stemming from the three, so the deep but calm voice of Omnitraxus interjects. "We're getting off topic here. There are more important things than past squabbles." A harsh scoff comes from Hekapoo as she crosses her arms, and Rhombulus ceases his taunting as Lekmet gently pushes him back. His giant animal skull turns to face Solaria. "But I do wish to share my own advice. Perhaps you could talk to Scales and end this war."

His Queen looks intently into his empty eye sockets. "You know it's going to work?"

His head shifts to the ceiling to peer into something only he sees. "...It's a possibility. Nothing more." His skull bends back down. "I still say you should go, and if nothing bad happens, they might see it as a sign of good faith for Monsters not in the war."

There's a moment of silence as they watch Solaria turn pensive.

"My Queen," Mina leans closer, her voice laces with displeasure. "You can't go there! I bet you anything those Monsters are already rallying."

A side glare has the knight wither. "You think I can't protect myself?"

"It's not that, it's just…shouldn't we organize the rest of the army? Like, what about sentries?"

"I never said I would see Scales today, I will do it tomorrow."

Seeing the relieved expression of their subordinate, she turns her attention to everyone, and waits a few seconds to see if any would speak. When they didn't, she begins, "Due to yesterday's events, I have been forced to send my daughter away for safety."

Confusion set in most of the members, and Omnitraxus leans in to ask, "the death of Globgor held enough weight to enrage most monsters, but surely the castle is safe enough for the Princess."

"Death people appeared in the nearby forest, where Monsters were spotted but never found," she answers in a beat. Her voice steady and eyes scanning their reactions.

Just as she expected, most flinched with their eyes widening.

Rhombulus is the first to stutter out a response. "H-Hold on, the newspaper didn't mention any of that!"

At that, Solaria did raise an eyebrow in surprise. "Has his death spread that far?"

The one to answer is hekapoo, playing with a pair of dimensional scissors by having the sharp end on the table and spinning it by the handles. "Are you kidding me? That's the talk of the multiverse right now. Those damn tabloids are having a field day with this," she sneers with flames puffing out of her scissors. "Calling it the next _upcoming firestorm_ , _the next apocalypse, the-_ "

"HEKAPOO!" Everybody is pushed back from a gust of wind. The table groaned as if ready to bend in itself and the tower they're in shakes with most afraid it will crumble down. Fortunately for them it doesn't, and are left staring at the enraged face of the Queen.

For their second fortune of the day, Solaria's expression becomes less grave. "Doesn't matter, we will proceed as I planned. Hekapoo, Omnitraxus." Both tenses at being called. "I want both of you to search the forest west of here. Those Monsters were too far away from the Forest of Certain Death to have escaped there. I want both of you to find out how they did it."

They sigh in relief, and the Forger of Scissors gets up from her seat. "Sure, waste my skills to chase some ghosts." She steps away from the table, spinning her scissors before slicing the air to create a blue swirling portal.

She smirks and turns to the floating skull with a smirk. "Come on, big guy. Time to go through."

With a grumble of annoyance, Omnitraxus moves to the portal, and like before, gets stuck trying to get through.

Seconds pass with Hekapoo chuckling at the scene, so baffled, Solaria asks, "can't you just make the portal bigger?"

The redhead chuckles, and gives a sideways glance to her Queen. "I know, but if I did, then I couldn't do things like this." She brings a feet up and kick's Omnitraxus through. Then hops in herself and the portal closes.

Solaria turns to the rest. "Rhombulus, I want you to construct crystal walls on the nearby towns."

"Yeah!" he pumps up a snake arm. "You will see. I will get the job done."

"Lekmet, go with him, and make sure he leaves two open pathways for carriages."

The goat man nods, while Rhombulus deflates, and the former slowly gets out before pulling dimensional scissors with wooden handles. As he opened the scissors to cut the air, an open mouthed snake moves closer.

"Want me to help?" Lekmet pauses to look at his friend, and despite having no face, he could hear the genuine desire to help in Rhombulus' voice.

With a gentle smile, he passes the scissors without an argument, and Rhombulus tears open a portal. After returning the scissors, he helps Lekmet walk through with a hand on his shoulder and holding his hand, like one would help an elderly cross the street.

With the sound of that portal closing, Solaria turns to her Knight, whose gazing up with an eager look. "You will be in charge of leading the sentries."

And that enthusiasm is crushed. "B-But why?! Aren't I a good knight?"

"Mina, you're without a doubt one of my strongest knights." Ever since she got here, Mina hasn't seen her drop her Queenly persona, but now she's using that soft tone reserved for her daughter, and that one occasion when she was recruited. "But because of that strength, I need you to defend Mewni while I lead the charge."

Mina looks ready to argue back, not with anger but desperation written clearly on her face. "But I took the Oath to fight with you. To get rid of the evil plaguing our lands."

She feels her spirit crushed as Solaria shakes her head.

"You took that Oath to protect and serve Mewni. Don't misinterpret it." Her stern declaration has Mina look away in shame. "And for that reason I trust you to defend my lands while I venture on Monster territory." The look in Mina's eyes shift to something akin to pride."My Solarian Warrior." The knights clenches her jaw to suppress a squeal of delight. "As the only one to have survived my project, you're beyond special, so I'm entrusting Mewni's safety to you. Are you willing to handle the responsibility?"

"Yes!" she declares with a salute. Her grin back in full force. "It is an honor."

The expression is mimicked back. "Great to hear. Now, let's go meet your team. It's better if you get acquainted soon."

With an acrobatic jump, Mina lands behind her chair, standing straight with hands on her back.

A light chuckle comes from the Queen. she gets up to head to the door to walk towards the barracks, instead of using her own Dimensional Scissors.

And that's to buy her extra minutes to think. _At least my daughter is safe. The news might've spread throughout dimensions, but a magicless planet like Earth is the exception._

With the wooden double doors opening, and the spiral stairs ahead, _that Marco better keep my daughter happy, or else..._

* * *

 _{"Father?" A gray scale Septarian, wearing a woolen green shirt and blue pants, steps inside a darkened room. The filtered light from the outside forest only reaches the doorstep. But that's no problem for the Monster and his heightened eyesight._

 _He's careful not to step over the papers that litter the floor. While looking around, he finds tables with scrolls over them, shelves with big vials that contains...things he rather not put too much thought on. Weapons hang off the walls and multiple maps depicting different areas of Mewni has written numbers and notes over them._

 _He keeps looking. His eyes squint to make sure his father isn't hiding in the shadows. 'Wouldn't put it past him,' he thinks to himself as he walks further in-_

 _A harsh pull from his neck and his back is slammed against the wall. The wood creaks loudly, metal clatters in their spot and scrolls swept in the air._

 _A wheeze comes out from him as he reconnects with the floor, but before he could blink the daze off, a steel like grip crunches on his neck._

 _Now a desperate gasp is added into the noise as he tries to pry open the hold._

" _Sloppy_ _as always, Toffee_ _. Falling for a simple trick," the owner of the voice is a black scaled Septarian with faded gray in some areas. Shaven head showing only scales underneath and wearing a dark blue cloak with torn pants. He releases his hold and the gray Monster inhales loudly. "If I was a Mewman assassin, your head would be rolling."_

 _After rubbing and breathing, Toffee wheezes out, "sorry, I...it won't happen again." He presses his back against the wall, getting a few inches away from his Father._

 _The man looks at his soon intensely, then turns to walk towards the maps. "Close the doors. I don't want wandering eyes looking in."_

 _With a frustrated sigh, he says, "I made sure not to be followed."Like usual, no response or affirmation of acknowledgement. The younger Monster walks over and puts his hand on the door-_

 _A steel pierces right through scale, skin and bone. A light gasp is drawn from the Septarian as he looks down, and sees a silver spear going through his neck. He grasps it with shaky hands and with a few more wheezes and grunts, they push the spear back for it to clatter loudly on the floor._

 _No blood, and all the damage on the Septarian healed in a second. He gasps heavily. Sweat rolls down his face, but it still hurt like fucking_ _ **hell**_ _._

" _Sloppy," the admonishing words sound of his Father come from the other side of the house. "When will you ever learn." The black scale Monster rummages through the several scrolls he has._

 _Toffee looks over at his back with a glare. He grabs the door again, which reads: [Property of Jawbreaker]_

 _[leave or die]_

 _It was clearly written with a sharp instrument, and he closes it carefully, instead of slamming it shut like he wanted to.}_

He blinks his eyes back into focus, and mentally admonishes himself for thinking about _him_ again. With a few seconds to recollect his thoughts, he remembers why he's here, and more importantly his guests.

 _Late, but I suppose that's expected. I did ask for a lot._

Toffee muses as he simultaneously reads ancient scrolls. His sharp finger tracing through the lines so his eyes can follow. _With their magical aid, acquiring the wand won't be a problem._

He closes the scroll. Then sets it aside and moves in another from the altar.

 _Butterflies are not like us Monsters. They don't generate magic in their bodies like we do, but instead siphon it from somewhere else. The Realm of Magic, the very thing that blue skinned imp kept us from._

Instinctively, his hand went over his suit pocket, feeling the vial that's in it.

 _Unreliable leaks appear, but the small amount of provided are not reliable for long experiments. That's why other sources are needed, and so far the_ _ **substitutes**_ _are more reliable._

This does crack a smile to Toffee, _Indeed they are._

 _To my descendants, or those sharing my similar ideals, continue where I left off. I don't care what methods you use, but make Mewmans pay!_

The darker spots on the words show the past owner pressed hard when writing.

 _Always so passionate Father. Wish I had some of that in my youth._

 _Body enhancement - Test 1-_

"Hey, Boss." Now a frown envelopes his face, especially since he was getting to the good part. "Blodmun has arrived."

Toffee turns. The many torches placed around illuminate the huge statues of warrior Monsters, by far the most impressive sight in this stone chamber that can be seen.

And there, standing on the opposite side of the room by the entrance, is another Septarian. Bulky with dark green scales, and wearing a vest and pants with metal platings. However, his entire left arm has long been replaced by a metal arm, along with his left eye socket where a pink gem resides.

"Rasticore." The steady, emotionless tone in his voice puts his subordinate on edge. "Did you at least have the intelligence to leave him behind?"

"Yes, of course, Boss!" he answers hastily, with a shaky, toothy smile. "All I did was ask him to wait. Blodmun didn't suspect a thing." His posture slackens while his gaze shifts between the stone floor and Toffee. "So, uh, do you want me to bring him now?"

"Yes, and good job on having common sense." The lizard in black suit turns back to the scrolls. "Something most tend to lack."

Rasticore has a wide smile as he walks out of the room, puffing his chest as he rides on the positive high.

With him gone, Toffee can focus back on the scrolls laid in front of him. His gaze twitching over the assortment of information. _Shame. I won't have the luxury to read whenever I wish._

His sharp claws trace along the edge of the pedestal to press in a switch. The sound of gears turning start and the pedestal shifts downwards. He doesn't wait for it to finish and moves towards the caskets.

After kneeling between them, he presses on a small, circular discoloration on the floor. Unnoticeable unless you know where to look. That small patch brightens a sickly green with the same light surrounding the caskets. When it fades off, the caskets are gone, and checking behind him, the pedestal with the scrolls are long gone, leaving only a featureless floor.

 _Can never be too careful._ He gets up to swipe the dust away. _If he were to see them, it would cause too many questions. Perhaps on a better time I could show him some of my more tame projects. Shame I can't show him my favorite ones._

At the sounds of footsteps, he focuses on the entrance. T _he Empress on the other hand,_ Toffee can't hold back a mad grin, fangs gleaming under the wavering fires. _I'm sure she will be more than eager._

When Rasticore turns to go through the door, he sees his boss in the middle of the chamber wearing a welcoming smile, and he pauses, unaccustomed in seeing such a kind expression on Toffee. But snaps out of it at the sound of the guest approaching.

With hurried steps, he moves to the side.

Stepping in wearing a fine robe with the colors of dawn. Arms and legs as thicks as branches with an upper body to match. Red fur with gray stripes on each forearm. Sharp pointed ears with a red-crescent moon pendant on each, necklace purple beads around his neck and white hair pulled back together into a ponytail that reaches his neck.

In terms of height, he's only slightly taller than Rasticore. Until he steps into the room, and his size shifts till he's over ten feet high. And with his physique, he makes for an imposing Monster.

 _With his innate magic manipulation, he can make for a great ally, or a dangerous foe._ Toffee weighs his words before speaking in a pleasant voice. "Blodmun, thanks for accepting my invitation on a short notice. I would've understood if you refused or didn't answer."

The first response isn't a word, but a *sniff*. The Shape-Shifter cleans the tear away, and the aged lines on his face are more pronounced in this moment. There's a visible struggle in maintaining a neutral look, instead of breaking into a tearful mess. "So sorry, Toffee, I need a minute."

After closing his eyes to hold the tears, he doesn't see the gray Septarian walk up to him and place a comforting hand on his leg. "Take as much time as you need." _The sooner we get this over with, the better._

There's one last hiccup before Blodmun uses his arm to wipe the tears off. He looks down to see concern on the Septarian. "No, I...I don't wish to spend all my time in misery. I…" A low growl emanates from him and his hands shake with clenched fists. "I want them to burn. I will make the Mewmans pay in blood for my Son's death!" The beads glow a radiant red with fire visibly forming inside them.

At this, Toffee removed the hand before it started sizzling, and as he watches the air vibrate from the giant's heat. "So you considered my proposition?"

The heat eases off, and the fire inside the beads snuff out. A calm expression reigns over him again. "I didn't need to ponder on it for long, my old friend. I brought in as many as I could."

"Your efforts won't be wasted. I promise you."

Blodmun shakes his head in disagreement. "It's I who should be saying those words. Toffee, if not for your message, I wouldn't have had the energy to leave my house. I shouldn't be saying these words, but I'm glad your first reaction was for war."

The tone Toffee uses is somber. "Even when we know that Globgor wouldn't approve?" Before an answer, he looks at Rasticore, whose shifting around awkwardly in this private setting.

The green scaled lizard understands and hastily moves out.

Blodmun soon kneels. His expression shifts before it falls into resignation. "My son. He had a golden heart. One that the Mewmans never deserved. If only…" His eyes shut tight and takes a shuddering breath before continuing. "If only I dissuaded him, but no, I could never crush his dreams, as far reaching as they were." He lets out a self-decrepitating laugh. "I'm a terrible father. If I had been more strict, maybe that could've prevented all this."

"You're a good father, never question that!" Toffee interjects with a harsh tone. A look of surprise overcomes the giant. "The only reason Globgor survived for centuries is because you taught him." Without realizing it, he's raised his voice far more than he would've liked. It shows as he coughs and steps back. "That's...that's what I think."

With tears once again forming in Blodmun's eyes, Toffee breaks eye contact. The giant's arms move up and silently asks for something Toffee wrestles inside.

A hesitant step, and then another, with his own hands up to hug Globgor before doing so. At least as much as a small person can achieve, Toffee's arms only half cover Blodmun's neck, while the giant's hands cover his back.

"Your words won't be wasted on me, more so coming from you."

The hug continued for some time. For the comfort of Blodmun, but for the displeasure of Toffee, until the former finally breaks it off.

"I will admit. I never thought you would comfort me one day, but you're a far cry from the first time I seen you."

"All thanks to your son and Mo…" Toffee's jaws snap shut and an eye twitches involuntarily. He turns and walks towards the statue with the red crystal. _I lost composure, and again, it's because of you Father._ The bitterness in his thoughts translated into a sharper frown.

Huge footsteps follow behind him and stops next to him. Instead of chatter like Toffee expected, he notices Blodmun observing the red crystal like him.

Toffee appreciates the silence regardless, so he can better gather his thoughts.

Until the giant finally speaks. "Have you ever regretted falling for her?"

"No. Never." The answer was immediate.

"It's just that, whenever she's brought up, you close, more than unusual."

"There are only a few things I regret." He takes a sole second to think of what he wishes to reveal. "Not talking to my Father as much. Don't misunderstand, I doubt I would've gotten along with the man, even now, but I'm sure I would've learned something from him."

"That, my old friend, is the effects of time speaking." A frown grazes Blodmun's lips,."I should've been proactive in assisting my son. Perhaps if I had been at his side more often, I could've saved him, but going back in time is beyond my magic."

A sardonic smile grazes Toffee's lips. "Skywynne Butterfly had that affinity with time."

"Yes. It always leads to the Butterflies possessing something we don't. It's time that changes."

With that proclamation, Toffee smiles in satisfaction.

Unfortunately for him, his moment of victory is cut short by Rasticore's trembling voice. "Hey, Boss…" Both inhabitants turn to the green Septarian, whose now withering underneath the scrutiny. "the Empress-"

He's roughly pushed aside to the point he stumbles, and the other individual steps in.

Dressed in a black silken cloak with gold embroiderment and black fitting pants. However, dark-thick roots cover most of his upper body, placed in such a way it won't impede his flexibility. Several thinner ones travel to his shoulders and disappear underneath the cloak. Gray ashen skin, dark hair combed back with sharp pointed ears, and the occasional root that protrudes from his neck or face to curl a few inches around.

The dark elf's grins almost reaches his ears as his gaze does a swift scan to Toffee and Blodmun. He moves his arms up and with a boisterous voice says, "behold! For you are in the presence of the almighty, Empress Pixtopia!"

He steps to the side with a bow and a hand over his chest for the pixie that flies in.

Wearing a one piece black dress with leaves of a similar color acting as a skirt. long, cascading hair that reaches past her feet, gray in color but with a nice sheen as if recently washed, and tied in place by a root that loops around it. White skin and eyes like a void of darkness. Her wings represent this better, despite their translucent appearance, a coat of shadows is emanating from them, pulsing at times as if eating away the light.

Her lips are twisted into a grin as she examines the room with a detailed eye "It's a shame nothing's changed." The Empress flies up to the statue's face and flies around. "I remember helping build this thing. All that time making plans and promises, only for it to go to waste." She stops in front of the statue containing the moon crystal. Her sigh is intentionally loud and longer than it should've been. "Even the Goddess of Lovers doesn't take pity on us Monsters. This room is only filled with disappointment."

A short frown appeared on Blodmun before he managed to compose himself. "Remember well, _Empress_." There's bite in his voice. "The Blood Moon-"

"~Give her blessings to two worthy souls~," Pixtopia said it with a sing-song tone that grates in the giant's ears. "The love story of your parents is a cute one and all, but looks like she decided to skip us on the last cycle, so much for a trump card."

"And what did you offer!?" Composure thrown away and fires are ignited inside the beads. "I placed the relic of the Goddess here because I had faith in this group. You on the other hand barely contributed to the army."

The shadows flare on her body to the point she's almost concealed by them. When she turns, her black eyes only reflect an eerie dot of light each. "Was that your attempt at belittlement? What a cute attempt, but don't forget. As your senior, I fought this battle long before you and what little remained of my family paid the price. You on the other hand received a boon because you got lucky. Nothing but a spoiled brat who expects everyone to fall in line. Like Globgor did to prevent the Third War."

She dashed to the side like a shadow before a giant fist could crush her in a blazing grip. Pixtopia is already back at the entrance, a fair distance from the giant. She laughs and raises a hand to summon dozens of darkened roots through the stone.

The dark elf from earlier positions himself in front, and from his arm three roots curl around each other and extends to end in a large pike, with purple liquid coming out of the makeshift weapon.

Unintimidated by the rows of magical roots aiming at him, Blodmun approaches with fire beginning to cloak his body.

Toffee is quick to step in between them, unafraid of being caught in the crossfire. "If we start fighting now, we will be giving the Mewmans the opportunity they need to kill us all. Is that what both of you want?" _As entertaining it would be to watch them fight, there needs to be a limit._

His glare challenging both sides, and they in turn are still glaring at each other but stopped.

Pixtopia huffs, the darkness shrouding her body retreats to reveal her form, and from her higher position in the air, she looks down on Toffee. "I'm telling the truth. It's his fault for not controlling his temper." She lowers her arm and the roots recede back. The dark elf pulls the weapon back into his cloak, and his Empress is already turning towards the exit. "My people can't handle participating in a third war. We learned our lesson than go against crazy Butterfly magic."

"Even if I could help you lift your curse?"

After the last word leaves Toffee's lips, a gasp is drawn from Pixtopia and Vax looks at the Septarian with a contortment of mixed feelings. Even Globgor's anger recited as he looks at Toffee in surprise, and Rasticore is now sweating, afraid a fight could still break out.

"As expected from the son of that snake." Pixtopia slowly turns back as the shadows moving like tendrils over her body. "I should cut your tongue over and over and use your body as fertilizer."

Toffee's only reaction to this is a neutral look. With perfect calmness, he pulls a small vial from his pocket, one that everyone in the room, without exception, gape with wide eyes at what he's holding.

"If magic is the issue, then even this little should aid you and your people." Toffee shakes the glass, the golden liquid inside it holds a vibrant glow that mesmerized everyone.

In other circumstances, Pixtopia fumbling with her own words would've embarrassed her. "H-How, that, when-is that..."

Now does the gray Septarian allow a small smile grace his lips. "This is genuine liquid from the Realm of Magic, and only take it if you will help us with the war. These are almost impossible to find-"

She crossed the distance in a beat and snatches the vial. Toffee could've kept it out of her range, but seeing the desperate look on the Empress, it's fun as it is telling for him.

Roots grow out of her hair and wrap around the vial, and a few others to tear the cork off. Swinging a hand, she commands the golden liquid to float out and begin coating her wings.

An eyebrow quirks from Toffee at seeing the liquid become absorbed by them.

The shadows seem to tear off her and dissolve while replaced by a gold light. Her wings gain a glittery white coat, and that black dress changes to a sky blue with leafy green for her skirt. The grayness for her hair changes to a lustrous purple, with smooth roots wrapping around it and flowers growing from them. Then those haunting black eyes changes to a blue with an orb of gold in the center. A delicate shade of blue takes over her skin.

Pixtopia looks at her own hands, then her dress and feels for the flowers on her hair. She laughs, then grins as she clench her fists and produces a gold glow from them. Her mood drops however as shadows flicker in her magic.

"Dammit, so close. If only there was a bit more." Her face scrunches in thought for a second before eyeing the Septarian. "And where could you have possibly found this?"

"My Father had it." Aside from the puzzled looks from everyone, the pixie is starting to snarl. "He showed it to me one day, but as you can imagine, he forced me not to tell anyone. With him death and a new War approaching, I thought it would be best to use it now."

"That bastard!" A gold glow and shadows cover her body as the ground seems to rumble, "He had that with him and didn't give it up!? I knew he was a snake, but I question his own sanity!"

Toffee almost laughed, but held back for the sake of an alliance. "I understand your frustrations. That's why I'm doing this, as a sign of good faith." He watches the Empress reign in her anger, but still glaring at him. "Then how about I share a piece of information to you for free." He leans forward, not for the dramatics, but because he wants to clearly see the expression she will make. "The Book of Magic has been destroyed."

He can't deny the sense of superiority at watching the Empress' jaw drop. It only got better at hearing Blodmun's voice.

"Impossible! They would never be as sloppy to let harm fall that book! Toffee, is that a jest!?"

To this the Septarian turns to give the giant a knowing smile. "Remember the fire that spread in the Butterfly castle."

At this, Pixtopia scrunches her face in confusion, but Blodmun gasps. "Yes. It consumed the entire castle from what I heard, but also the book?"

"It surprised me too." He lets out an admonishing chuckle. "I sent out a personal agent of mine to retrieve either the wand or the book, but he did manage to hear Skywynne complain about her Mother leaving the ancestral book for." He pauses to chuckle once more. "A book of dress fashion."

The look on both leaders was quite similar to the one he had when he heard.

*Pfft* "Hahaha-haaaha!" Pixtopia doesn't hold anything, holding her stomach as she leans back and kicking her legs.

Blodmun shakes his head and mutters "Butterflies" with venom.

"As you can both see," Toffee resumes with a smile more prominent. "If we wish to eradicate the Mewmans, it's best if we do it now."

The following silence that follows is tense with the two other leaders glaring at each other. As much as Toffee wished to smooth things further, he figures this is something they need to do willingly.

Blodmun crosses his arms, and with a heavy authority in his voice, "for my son, I will put away my disdain to work with anyone."

"Hah," Pixtopia's response is quick with a wide smile and eyes narrowed in mischief. "You can hate me if you wish. I even welcome you trying to kill me because I will kill you first." The giant simply looks with a stoic look. "With the curse partially lifted, now I can grant powers to my people." She continues by giving Toffee a side smirk. "All I ask is that after we kill the Butterflies, either lend us the wand, or help me find their sanctuary to fully break the curse."

"The Sanctuary is acceptable." Toffee's lips part to show a fanged smile. "I'm sure we can drag it out of the Queen after we capture her."

The Empress has a similar smile. "I can help with that."

"Pleasantries aside, did you bring your army like I asked?"

"Oh that, no." Toffee's smile drops, but the Empress leans back as if sitting on a chair. "I never had the intention of joining, but nothing of lose. I will just inform of them when I get back."

"Yes, not a big loss." Granted, he pictured this moment to be witnessed by the armies of all three, but not a big deal in the end.

Heavy steps move past him and without looking back, Blodmun heads towards the entrance. "If we're all done, we should head out and inform everyone." He shrinks to be able to be able to pass.

Eyeing him as he exited, Pixtopia giggles. "He will be fun to work with." She flies towards the same entrance, and with a quick "Umbra", the dark elf follows behind her.

With them gone, Rasticore approaches his boss. Lines of sweat coating his scales, "that...could've gone worse."

"It also could've gone better." Toffee held no illusion that this was going to go smoothly. _I can still work with this._

 **[~*~]**

In only five minutes of travel did they reach the surface, but in that timeframe they traversed a simple rocky hallway with other holes for other paths.

When another path was taken it took them upwards for a few seconds, then they did three more turns before finally reaching sunlight. During the entire way, the group was silent, each to their own thoughts.

The exit ended up being on the side of a mountain right at its base. A small clearing next to it with a vast forest all around, and in front of the small group is a massive gathering of Monsters, only a small portion seeable in the small field. But there's an obvious divide with two groups separated by an imaginary line.

The left side is mostly composed of creatures with armors and blades. Septerians are there, with different scale colors, other slimmer lizards with smooth skin, humanoid mud people with blackness for eyes, others with full body black armor and weapons with rocky materials. This small army follows the same pattern.

The right side holds no order for the shape and sizes of the Monsters. Small imp like creatures with ragged clothing, amphibian-humanoid creatures like frogs, fishes and even a human sized lobster, individuals with misshapen forms like a bloated main body with long legs and short arms or long limps with an elongated body. There's even a giant sentient donut with limbs. Any creature imaginable is likely on this side.

Blodmun, grows in size so he's twice as tall as the trees and keeps growing till everyone had to crane their head if they want to see his face. **"The war will commence!"** Monsters within the forest pokes their heads. Other larger Monsters rise up. **"We will take back what's ours, and spill as much Mewman blood to match our fallen brethren!"** A chorus of approval roars, and through gritted teeth, Blodmun spits the words, **"there will be no quarter! The Mewmans pay for their crimes!"**

Whistles, claps and stomps greet him, and Toffee can't be more pleased. _Even when it was unintentional, you taught me what not to do Seth._

* * *

 **A/N: I know, it's been far too long, but hey, real life and all. Gotta take care of that first. More importantly, the Monster generals have been revealed!**

 **Toffee (obvious pick), Pixtopia and Blodmun! Ta-da! Before I forget, I want to mention that it was Exotos135 who helped me name the last two. This includes Umbra, the dark elf.**

 **For all those who want to see more Eclipsa and Marco, don't worry, next chapter we will go back to them. But preparations had to be set in Mewni, which is why the chapter is called like it's.**

 **Did I do the characterisation right? Was the chapter entertaining? Please leave a review because those motivate me to write faster.**

 **On a site note, the next chapter I will focus on is my other story [Wings of an Angel and a Demon]. Only one chapter, then I will return to this story. The good news is that half the chapter was already done for that story.**


	6. Having Fun Together (Part 1)

**"Eclipsa" - Dialogue**

 ** _Eclipsa - Thought_**

 **[~*~] - Time change**

 **{Line Break} - Location change**

 ** _{...}_ \- Flashback**

* * *

Discomfort noises passes through Eclipsa's lips when sunlight hits her. Forcing her to roll on her opposite side and pull the velvet blanket to her face. A smile forms on her lips before her face twists into a frown. _I can't be late for study sessions._

She's too well accustomed to her routine: dress, eat, then princess lessons.

So with great reluctance, she slips the warm blanket off, and then pushes aside the veil drapes to put on her bunny slippers. She stretches her arms and releases a long yawn. Smiling wide now, Eclipsa walks over to the windows ready to greet her flower garden.

Swinging them open, the young Princess leans out and breathes deeply.

 _Hmm?_ A less aromatic smell hits her, so the frown returns stronger. Her sluggish mind clears to focus on the sight of a wooden fence and several square houses of different sizes and additional changes.

There are rows of houses on the other side of the streets and behind the one she's in. Eclipsa looks side to side in confusion, but then she exclaims "oh!"

 _I live here...for now._ Yesterday's memories come one by one. She sighs, feeling a void growing in her chest, but then smiles at remembering the fun she had with Marco.

"At least I have a friend here," saying the words alone sends a rush in her. With no princess duties weighing on her and a friend to have fun with, she's ready to tackle this day with vigor.

She closes the windows and walks back towards her bed with a spring in her step, and right there leaning on the wall next to her bed, is her parasol/wand. Holding it again sends pleasant shivers down her arms.

Angling her wand in the air, the purple orb on top glows, and from her wardrobe, clothes of her choice fly out.

Not wishing to waste daylight, she quickly changes out of her sleeping robes into a long purple dress with a white collar. Flat shoes with knee length socks and white silk gloves that reach her elbows.

She uses another simple telekinesis and floats the body mirror till its in front of her. Examining herself, she brushes her long green hair but takes seconds longer to examine her gloved hands.

She forgot to put them yesterday because of the amount of stress she was in the morning, but now, she had put them on just out of habit. _'As a proper Princess, appearances are everything,'_ a snobbish tone answered in her head.

 _But I'm not in the castle anymore_ , a quick moment of thrill runs down her spine as she tosses the sleeves to the ground.

While the sleeves were no longer itchy due to the months of practices, she prefers her hands to be able to breathe.

Despite the brief satisfaction, The image in the mirror is still not good enough in her mind.

A moment of inspiration hits her and quickly floats in two pieces: a black ribbon and a long blue cloth. Setting her wand on the bed, she ties the black ribbon to her hair to make a ponytail, and then ties the cloth around her waist to end it with a bow on her back.

Eclipsa likes the sight of her dress to have a puffed out skirt and how it curves around her waist.

Nodding to herself, she steps out of her room and already notices the noise downstairs, _I hope I didn't oversleep._

She walks down the stairs before catching sight of her new friend, "Marco!" With eager steps that matches her tone, she passes by the kitchen while receiving and returning a quick "hello" to his parents.

Then sits herself next to Marco on the couch, who's just about shrugging off the surprise from the earlier greeting. "Hi, Eclipsa," he greets casually, putting down the control and letting the television become background nose, "sorry for not waking you up early, but my parents thought it be better if you slept in for your first day."

"I don't mind," she leans back and relaxes. Her eyes still on him, "now I got energy for the entire day." _More importantly_ , she slides closer, getting him to look nervous as she whispers, "I know we planned to go to the mall, but is it possible for me to get some magic practice before we do."

It only takes him a moment to smile in reassurance, "sure, we can always go to the mall at any time." She had a feeling he agree, but it feels nice to hear it, "After you're done with the practice, you can come back here and then we can go shopping."

Before he could finish, her lips already curved downwards, "Marco, what are you talking about? You sounded like you're staying here during my magic training."

His gaze drifts off, and rubs the back of his neck, "I mean, I thought you would want to do that in private. You know, without distractions."

Confusion sets in first on her, "Marco, why would I think you're a distraction?" Her reassuring tone matches her smile, "Of course I want my friend to be there with me. I promised to show you a new world, **my** world, and I intend to keep that." Before he can react, she pinches his nose, "boop."

He leans back. His eyes focusing on his nose before moving to her. Who snickers at his reaction. He smiles back as he leans back on the sofa.

*Click*

Both teens turn to the kitchen to see Angie holding her phone. A twinkle in her eyes and a double-sided grin.

"Mom!" Marco yells with a hot flush forming.

A snicker comes from her as she inspects the photo, "It's better to preserve every memory if possible. Please continue, pretend I wasn't here." She steps back into the kitchen. The biggest difference is that there's a low murmuring chattering between the adults.

Slumping once again on the couch but releasing a frustrated groan, "Sorry about that. My mom is just…" he waves both hands in the air in an exasperated manner, "eccentric."

"I don't mind," it's accompanied by a short laugh, then by a pleading smile as she rubs her thumb on her wand, "Did you reconsider on accompanying me?"

He takes a deep breath. Still staring at her. At the back of his mind, he's aware that this could turn out more dangerous than anything he and Janna tried to pull off, yet he can't deny that he wants to experience the danger. Not to die of course, but to try stop being the 'safe kid' like everyone thinks he is, and he did enjoy the flight that Eclipsa gave him yesterday.

With a smile that's more confident than what he feels, he nods, "Yeah, I want to. We...are not going to do anything too dangerous, right?"

She lets out another lighthearted chuckle, "Nothing too bad. Just experiment with some new spells, maybe shoot some lasers and try raising the dead. Nothing complicated."

Marco stares as she smiles innocently, _I did want more danger in my life. I just hope I don't turn into a zombie myself._

* * *

After another corn-based cuisine, at least in Eclipsa's opinion, they're in their way to a place suitable for Eclipsa's first real spell. Not the simple ones she casted with little problems.

Since Eclipsa wants to raise the death, Marco fearfully recommended the cemetery, but to his relieve and surprise, she said no.

"I don't know the potency my spell will have, so I need an area with small amount of test subjects." Something he learned, after she clarified, are dead things. Cats, dogs, people, doesn't matter.

Doing his best to ignore the squirmy feeling inside him, he told her he might know a place.

So they're walking through a neighborhood he's passed a few times with Janna. Walking side by side for the past forty minutes, Marco has a backpack carrying some books and scrolls of Eclipsa's choosing. The Princess herself is carrying her family's magical book on her shoulder with no effort.

It did get a few odd looks from the sight of a teenager carrying a giant book, but nothing else that could dampen mood as she continues to chatter with her friend, "I don't know what spells to try afterwards! Perhaps a beam empowered by dark magic, or a flame sword!" She frowns, and with the hand holding her parasol, she places a finger on her chin, "Hmmm. I feel like my Mom would have a spell for that."

That's how she's been during the entire walk. Talking of spells that could manipulate emotions, scrying anything and everything, amongst things that are for pure destruction and patch injuries, like how she did to the bird yesterday.

And Marco listened intently with curiosity and excitement, asking questions whenever he thought he won't interrupt. Right now is no exception, "Why can't you just make it your own?" She stares at him and those big eyes of hers ask him to continue. "Well, you could," he fumbles with his words at first, "try and reinvented it? Like how people keep doing different versions of phones. Maybe you could turn it into your own version?"

Heat rises to his cheeks, _Did I say something dumb?_ _I shouldn't have said anything._

"That's an interesting idea," Marco feels relief and mirrors the smile Eclipsa has, "I'm sure Mother would be delighted to know I'm working on her spells and Grandmother's."

More confident with himself, he allows one of his questions out, "You said you were doing dark magic, but what about your Mother?"

Her cheeks lift up and a sparkle appears in her eyes, "fighting spells. If there's one Queen that excels at combat, it's her." She hums, "Modifying my Mother's spell could weaken its power, but I can always add some interesting side effects." Then adds as a side thought, "My Grandmother's time spells will be trickier to incorporate with dark magic."

Marco nearly stops at how casually she said time magic, _I thought yesterday was crazy enough, but now…_ As that bubble of apprehension surfaces, so does the confidence he has for Eclipsa. How careful she was when they were flying over the forest, and how she gave the bird a new wing, _she knows what she's doing._

Putting the thoughts aside, he takes a mental note of all the familiar streets they passed, and guides Eclipsa to a wide drainage ditch. She looks at him with a raised eyebrow, and he smiles in confidence, but it's more for himself for what he will see soon, and silently thanks Janna for showing him this place.

After looking around to ensure the place is empty, he slides down the concrete edges of the ditch until arriving on even ground.

Eclipsa wasted no time on arriving next to him. Now looking eager for her test subjects. She follows behind Marco as he takes her to underneath a bridge ahead. While the shade it provides is nice, the real treats are scattered all about.

Dead dogs lying around. Some from lack of eating or sporting fatal wounds.

But the most important thing of value, is that there are only five practice subjects for her.

"Aww, poor dogs," and she did say with genuine care. It's tragic for her to see them like this, but there's nothing she can do for them, and can put their corpses to good use. As she's about to thank Marco, he's currently pinching his nose close and looking paler. "Marco, what's wrong?"

"Oh, you know, the smell of corpses." He tries to put up a composed look, "have you done this before?"

A sigh leaves her but still smiles fondly, "No, but it was by choice. I wanted my first raise of the death to be with the wand." Then chuckles as she looks intently at his face, "But if you're wondering why I'm not about to barf, practicing with potions requires a strong stomach."

Stepping away from him and to her new specimens, she's glad that they all have their body parts.

"Glossaryck, come out!" She tosses the magical book up high, nearly touching the bottom of the bridge as she does so.

As it falls down, Marco is worried that it would hit Eclipsa's head, but that giant book stops a mere feet from the smiling Princess.

The front part of it shimmers as a small blue being in yellow robes phases out, "Ready to learn the secrets of the universe, Princess?"

"Heh, maybe some other time," part of her wonders how serious he is, but more importantly, "time to to learn my spells, Glossy."

Still holding a neutral look as he gazes at the Princess, and only raises an eyebrow as he looks over Marco, "look at this, friends yesterday and already sharing your heritage with him. You work fast."

A hum comes from the Princess as her eyes squint at the blue man, "Mom is right, it's difficult to tell if you're complimenting or not."

He offers a side-glance at her, "more of an observation, but if you're looking for positive affirmation, then I say he's a good pick."

Eclipsa nods with a smile, but Marco looks troubled at the new being, "who is he?"

She gasps, turning to him to eagerly answer him, "He, Marco, is my teacher for anything magic related!"

The teacher smiles and throws his arms up for show, "I'm Glossaryck!" The words appear on top of him in gold. "Of terms," The last appearing below him. Letting them hang on for a few seconds till they puff into dust with his neutral look returning, "Its a title."

Still looking at the blue man curiously, Marco did pick up on something, "A title? But isn't it your name?"

To this he shrugs, "names are such a simple concept. So I just stuck with Glossaryck because its my job."

While Marco just thinks of this as an oddity, Eclipsa ponders for a moment at that, having learned something new about his instructor.

But shakes those thoughts away and refocuses on what's important. She claps her hands as her heart flutters, "now that both of you are acquainted. We can begin with my experiments. Marco, get my books out!"

He nods, uncovering his nose before setting down the backpack.

"Glossaryck!" she continues with that same upbeat tone of hers, "Get ready a page for my first spell."

The magical being looks at the dead animals with an uninterested look, and the floating book opens. It's clusters of huge pages and stick notes fly past in a blur to stop on a blank page.

"Hey, Eclipsa," Marco is holding a green and red book, seemingly normal looking, while three more are still in the backpack, "are we going to use all of these?"

She hums. Then giggles with a smile, "Most likely not. I'm just not sure which spells I want to work on later, so I wanted to have my options open." Marco has to acknowledge that her eagerness is becoming infectious, "It's the green book."

He puts the other one back and hands her the one she wants.

But as she opens it to the page she wants, Eclipsa shifts the book in her hands while also holding her parasol. Then remembers what her friend suggested and decides to put it into practice.

She tosses it up, **"Velvet Dust."** A small patch of air on front of her turns purple with glitter white dust, and the book falls on top of it only to hover in place. "Simple and good," she says as she admires her work.

Marco steps closer and pokes the purple air, but it feels like strong jello that pushes back. An inch in before it becomes impossible to push further. Retreating his hand, he looks at the princess with a questioning tone, "so, a variation from yesterday's spell?"

She twirls her parasol before setting it on her shoulder and smiles in satisfaction, "You were right. No need to overcomplicate a spell when the framework is there."

Not his exact words, but he can understand her.

Using her now free hand, she flips the pages again due to the impromptu throwing. Then stops to a page with a title: Knicknacks of Undead.

"From every book I read, I made sure to add the important bits into my personal books." She taps at the writing for him to read.

 _If a body hasn't decomposed and sustained no injury, they make for perfect minions. But broken muscle, bones or decomposition will become more severe as the subject moves again. The incantation would have to be modified to account for this._

 _Limbs can be missing, but never the head. Substitutes can be used like the skull of other animals, but without a brain, simple commands can only be taken._

 _Bringing back a soul from its slumber is not recommended. The threat depends on whose spirit is yanked back from their slumber._

Marco notes, aside from the rest of the writing below it, are the sticky notes of information on the sides. Once contains: pleading might help? Strong connection can increase success? Medium might be needed.

"Pretty flexible. Don't you agree? I could either try to summon the spirit or try to get the body to give me answers." She leans closer to him, smiling wildly and eyes reflecting her enthusiasm.

He mulls over it. His eyes drifting to her with a small smile growing, something she's grateful for, "This-This is amazing! Think of everything we could learn!" This is like his fantasies of bringing back Mackie Hand, but real.

"That's exactly what I thought! We could set up an entire line of communication! Ancient mysteries solved and families can talk to loved ones." She halts with her smile dipping.

No more needed to be said to Marco, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he closed it. He wanted to say something, but he didn't want to push it. Instead, he puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it?" After all, he did promise to listen to her if she ever needs it.

Her smile lifts, and grabs onto his hand on her shoulder. Enjoying the warmth of friendly contact, "I want to bring back the soul of my Grandmother."

"Oh," instantly he feels bad for the lackluster response and quickly responds, "sorry, you must really miss her."

She gently tightens her grip, "I never met her." Now he blinks owlishly before staring at her, "she was killed by a…" she grits her teeth and turns her head away to spit the words, " _septarian_."

It might've been a trick of the light, but Marco thinks he saw her cheekmarks glow briefly. And in that instance, he feels a deep desire to run away. Similar feelings when he was in Solaria's presence, but like before, his body becomes rigid against his will.

Then as quick as blinking, it's gone as he sees Eclipsa showing him a waning smile, "sorry about that." Her voice sounds smaller, almost scared, "I don't have good memories about Monsters in general, but my Mother already dealt with that septarian." _And will soon deal with the rest of them._ She takes consolation in that thought, and more so when she sees Marco relax, "I do want to talk to her, getting to know her, but I'm sure Mom would like to do it more."

His heart is beating like he gone through a marathon, but manages to smile, "I'm sure you can do it. A lot of this magic stuff will go over my head, but even I can tell you did your research." _If her Grandmother manipulated time, then I'm sure bringing back spirits shouldn't be as hard._

"I do love being prepared," she grins and puffs her chest in pride. Then, with reluctance, removes Marco's hand as she has to get serious.

She flips more pages till she stops on a new one that has several sentences crossed out.

Curious, Marco reads the title _Strings of Life_ , and he understood after reading the visible sentence: _Heed my call, I offer a reward for your services_. With a sticky note next to it saying: spirit might ask for more.

This just leads Marco to think, _I guess summoning spirits is more than just using protection circles like Janna does, but it's not like we had to worry about bringing an actual ghost from the tomb._

The more pages she moves, he sees most of the writing crossed out with few readable sentences with more sticky notes. He doesn't have time to read as she keeps moving forward.

"Here," she taps the page hard with a heavy breath of anticipation. Like the rest, most of its pages are crossed out, but a few are visible near the bottom, "Ah, so I was remembering some words wrong."

"Does it have to be long? Can't you just use two or three words?" His own curiosity winning and looks over any detail with wonder.

"Depends on how elaborate a spell is. My Grandmother has a few that requires a dance steps." She hums for a moment, lost in thought before she shrugs with a side grin, "But I prefer poems. They're easier to rework than changing a dance sequence." She looks away before continuing with a faint blush, "That and...I got away from practicing ballet in exchange for poetry." _The less tripping I do the better._

Watching their little exchange, Glossaryck is floating on his side and eating from another pudding cup. _So much has changed, but how much of it will remain the same?_ For a brief moment, the corner of his lips curve upwards before returning to its neutral look.

Eclipsa soon directs her attention to the nearest dead dog and aims her parasol at it. The orb at the end lights up.

" _I pull the_ _ **Strings of Life**_ _. Heed my request. Answer my questions with no lie. Then return to rest."_

As she started her chant, fog began piling around the body. It surrounds it until the body can't be seen.

As they both watch with awe, it comes as a surprise as a string is shot from the wand's orb and into the fog.

Marco asks worriedly, "Is that supposed to happen?"

"Yes." She steps closer to see her spell working, "I did it on my first try. It's actually working!"

Granted, she didn't think an actual string would go inside a fog, but she doesn't feel a negative feedback, or the spell overcharging and ready to explode.

She's ready to start hopping on her feet as the spell continues to work, and Eclipsa feels her spell reaching its climax. She holds her breath, imagining how her Mother will praise her after she tells her this.

Then the string fizzles out as the fog evaporates.

"...What?" The young Princess asks out loud. Caught off guard to the point she can't hide it. She didn't notice herself lowering her wand, or Marco moving to her side.

Seeing her visibly crushed, he puts a hand on her shoulder, "Hey, you can try again. Maybe the dog didn't hear you."

"Don't misunderstand, they heard her." Glossaryck doesn't meet their gaze as he's still focused on his pudding, "they just didn't care."

Not appreciating her spell failed for something so mundane, she puts aggression behind her tone, "I would like an explanation."

"I could," he poofs away the spoon and cup to give his student a dull look, "but instead of giving you the answer, we can play twenty questions."

To this Marco raises an eyebrow, "Can't you just give her answer? This is really important to her."

"Because it won't do any good to her." He watches them dwell in confusion till he got bored of that, "Where's the fun in giving her the answer? She's supposed to rule Mewni one day, and if she can't figure out something this simple, then there's little hope for her."

A frown sets on Marco, but Eclipsa pats him on the shoulder. He thought she be angry like him, so he didn't expect to see her smiling.

She focuses on her teacher, "Thank you for your consideration. I will gladly play your game."

It might've been small, but he cracks a smile, "what is the purpose of your spell?"

"To get spirits from the beyond to come back and answer my questions," her answer comes quick.

But Glossaryck hums before thinking of the next one, "how do you get a dog to do what you want."

At this Eclipsa ponders, wanting to give a satisfying answer. One that Marco beats her with enthusiasm.

"That's easy!" Marco answers confidently, "food can be used like a distraction or get them to do something."

The answer sounds reasonable for Eclipsa, but she looks at the death dogs with a sour look, "what does that have to do with my spell?"

Running a hand through his hair, Marco wracks his mind for a good answer, so when he finds none, he just says what's in his mind, "maybe the dog didn't want to come here."

"So what, because I didn't give them a treat, they won't show up." It clicks as she says it. She groans and pinches the bridge of her nose, "That's embarrassing. Of course a dog won't be pulled by my spell."

Marco's eyes move to the dog's body, "I thought the spell was supposed to...pull the soul here and the rest happens." It still feels surreal to say it.

"Not necessarily," her face scrunches in thought with her fists on her hips, "I don't wish to make the souls violent, so I didn't include any bindings in the spell." She turns her head, hiding part of her face with her hair to hide the blush, "And why would a dog be incentivised to answer a question." _I am aware some spells won't work on first attempts, but I'm glad Mom wasn't here to witness it._

"Now that I think about it," Marco gives a light-hearted chuckle, "we should've gone to the cemetery instead." His chuckles continues till it dies down when she doesn't laugh.

*Pfft*

Eclipsa hunches over before straightening up and rubs small tears away. "You're right, we should've." Tension leaves her as she lets the good humor wash over, "I got overly excited in trying my first spell, but it's alright, mistakes happen." She once again looks at the dead bodies, thinking of what if she changes the wording of her spell.

"Shame," Glossaryck now leans back on the open book with hands behind his head, "I wanted to keep going in our game, but good for you, now you know your mistake."

"It's not like I made a mistake with my spell," she raises her wand and makes electricity course through it to show it works on command, "it just lacked the desired intention."

"If it helps you sleep better," he yawns, leaning more into the pages, "so what do you want to do now? Go to the cemetery or try to get your spell to work?"

Indecisive sets on her, not sure to give it further time or invest it on other spells.

"You could give it a try," her guide speaks on more confidently, "this can be like your practice." He isn't sure how karate lessons translate to magic training, but he assumes practice will always be essential. That, and he really wants to see the dead rise.

"We're already here. It would be a waste to leave with little learned." She puts a hand on her cheek to lean on it, "which words would even work? _I pull the_ _ **Strings of Life.**_ _Heed my request. Answer my call to play. Then return to rest."_

Simple and effect for Eclipsa, but she only chanted the words to get feedback from Marco and Glossaryck. So when the wand's crystal shines a brilliant purple, she pauses as she stares at it.

Six strings shoot out of it and into the six bodies when fog manifested on them.

Marco's voice ends up snapping her out, "Eclipsa, did you mean to do that?"

She yanks her parasol to the side in hopes to break the threads, but ends up feeling a weight on her wand as it reels the souls, "why did it activate!? I didn't mean to!"

The threads wobble before pulling back into her wand.

"Funny thing actually," Glossaryck watches the spell with a hint of a smile, "Butterflies so attuned to magic it weaves to their words alone."

"Interesting," Eclipsa says through gritted teeth as she tries to command the spell to stop, "but not helpful."

She stumbles backwards after the threads snap, and regains her balance after Marco catches her.

But the fog on the body remains, which makes Eclipsa realize why, "the souls have already been called."

And it didn't take long for white light to come through their eyes and mouths. The fog seeps into their open wounds and leaks from them.

The bodies twitch, and as they get up, bones crack and their limbs angle unnaturally to do so. Heads lull and jaws open as a raspy sounds come out.

A green tinge grows on Marco's cheek, but aside from that, he stays next to Eclipsa. Who watches in a mixture of frustration that her spell activated on accident and wonder at watching it work successfully.

Aside from the macabre way they got up, they stand still with their bodies jerking every second. Some look around, but that movement is slow and is accompanied by bones snapping and cracking.

 ***Grrrrr***

Until one bares its teeth, and a deep rattling voice to match. The other dogs cower and whine, but Eclipsa smiles with an eye roll.

"Rude," her parasol crackles with electricity as she takes aim.

Before the first shot is made, Marco steps forward, "let me try something."

Eclipsa is surprised at first, but lowers her wand, "go ahead." _Its just a dog. No need to worry._ She still keeps a tight grip on her wand.

Her friend pulls his jacket up to unzip his fanny bag, and pulls out a granola bar. She watches curiously as he opens it and tosses a piece of it near the aggressive one.

It stops. Head tilting to the side and takes crock steps, nearly stumbling down but it does make it. Its head bends down with bones popping out and fully visible. The dog tries to close it jaws and with few attempts it manages it. Its lower jaw shifts left and right to grind the food.

With the minor threat gone, Eclipsa looks at her friend as he breaks another piece of the bar, "what else do you have in that?"

"Um," he stops to make a mental note, "some gauzes, gloves, disinfectants, a box of band-aids, a fire blanket, a handkerchief and two of this," he waves the granola bar in hand, "because after a dog chases you once, you're always prepared." He ends it with a wavering laugh, clearly unpleased with the memory.

"Those are still many things." She says with a bit of wonder, "you love to come prepared don't you?"

"I try," he breaks the bar into more pieces and tosses more to the violent dog that already swallowed his. Then throws the rest to the others. "So what are you going to do about them?"

 _What am I going to do?_ she takes a look at the dogs, distracted and docile at the moment, "originally I was going to destroy them and try the spell again tomorrow while focusing on others, but I shouldn't waste this either." Flipping pages from her book, she enters a new section with the title: _Banishment._ She smiles in elation, "It's not a bad idea to learn a counter-spell. This will prove to be productive."

* * *

 **A/N: Yes, I know, cliffhangers aren't fun, but it's either this or take even longer to post a longer chapter.**

 **So I had this chapter done for around 2 weeks, but I waited for my friend to proofread this, only that they never messaged me back, and I don't know when they will. I got tired of waiting and really wanted to post this, so here it's.**

 **But there are other reasons I'm worried about this chapter, and that's because it feels slower than the last chapter which prepped the mess that will fall on Mewni. But Eclipsa and Marco's journey needs to start somewhere and escalate from there. Which I promise to make things a tad crazier after every chapter, and I mean a complete chapter; chapters divided into parts count as one.**

 **Please leave a review and tell me the good and the bad of this chapter. I'm always looking to improve so constructive criticism is always welcome, and they let me know people are interested in this story.**

 **Until next time.**


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